GIFT  p$ 
SEELEY  W.  MUDD 

and 

GEORGE  I.  COCHRAN    MEYER  ELSASSER 
DR.  JOHN  R.  HAYNES    WILLIAM  L.  HONNOLD 
JAMES  R.  MARTIN         MRS.  JOSEPH  F.  SARTORI 

to  tkt 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
SOUTHERN  BRANCH 


JOHN  FISKE 


* 


_Si 

I  84  9  0  . 


LIFE 

OF 

ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 

a  ^igtor?  of  ti&e  Republic 

OF  THE 

UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA, 

AS  TRACED   IN   HIS 

WRITINGS  AND  IN   THOSE   OF    HIS    CONTEMPORARIES. 

BY 

JOHN  C.  HAMILTON. 

ILLUSTRATED    WITH  NUMEROUS  PORTRAITS. 

VOLUME  I. 


"  Neque  enim  est  ulla  res,  In  qua  propius  ad  Deorum  numen  Tirtus  accedat  humana, 
quam  civitates  aut  condero  noTas  aut  conaerrare  jam  condita*."—  Cietro,  Dt  Repvb. 


BOSTON: 

HOUGHTON,   OSGOOD  AND  COMPANY. 
Hitorrsfiue  Press,  CambrtDge* 

1879. 

88027 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1878,  by 

JOHN   C.  HAMILTON, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


y. 


£ 


PREFACE. 

IN  the  preface  to  the  greatest  existing  profane  his- 
torical work,  Gibbon  remarks,  "  that  diligence  and 
accuracy  are  the  only  merits  which  an  historical 
writer  may  ascribe  to  himself,  if  any  merit  can  be 
assumed  for  the  performance  of  an  indispensable 
duty." 

This  duty  it  has  been  attempted  by  me  to  per- 
form;  and  while  so  occupied,  in  order  to  check 
^     the  promulgation  of  a  hurried,  imperfect  narrative, 
were  published  in  eighteen  hundred  and  forty  and 
forty-one,  two  volumes  entitled  "  The  Life  of  Alex- 
ander Hamilton."     These  volumes  were  nearly  all 
burned  while  in  the  process  of  binding.     Circum- 
^    stances  subsequently  arose  which  delayed  the  com- 
§>     pletion  of  my  labors ;  and  it  was  not  until  eighteen 
hundred  and  fifty-seven  that  the  task  was  resumed. 
o>     In  eighteen  hundred  and  sixty-four  this  combined 
«o     biography  and  history  was  finished  ;  an  edition  of 
P^     my  father's  works  having  been  previously  edited 
by  me  under  the  authority  of  the  Congress  of  the 
United   States.      Meanwhile    several    productions 
have  come  before  the  public,  each  purporting  to 
be  a  life  of  Alexander  Hamilton.     All  of  them 
being  mere  outlines,  or  abstracts,  I  have  felt  that 


iv  PREFACE. 

a  true  presentation  of  my  father's  services  to  this 
country  could  only  be  given  by  a  careful  study  of 
the  obstacles  encountered  and  partially  overcome 
by  him,  both  intrinsic  and  extrinsic,  in  the  great 
office  and  efforts  of  his  short  life,  the  originating, 
the  expounding,  the  establishing,  and  administer- 
ing, with  the  co-operation  of  others,  a  Republican 
Government  with  the  requisite  powers  and  limita- 
tions "  to  promote  the  general  welfare,"  and  to 
secure  to  the  American  people  "  the  blessings  of 
liberty."  The  invaluable  support  by  which  these 
efforts  were  sustained  is  by  Hamilton  truly  ascribed 
in  his  own  words  to  "  the  sage  and  modest "  Wash- 
ington. 


LIST  OF  PORTRAITS. 


FISHER  AMES. 
FRANCIS  BARBER. 
J.  A.  BAYARD. 
EGBERT  BENSON. 
ELIAS  BOUDINOT. 
WILLIAM  BRADFORD. 
JOHN  BROOKS. 
CHARLES  CARROLL. 
GEORGE  CLYMERT 
CORNWALLIS. 
W.  R.  DAVIE. 
JOHN  DICKINSON. 
JAMES  DCANB. 
OLIVER  ELLSWORTH. 
COUNT  DE  GRASSE. 
NATHANAEL  GREENE. 
ALEXANDER  HAMILTON. 
JOHN  E.  HOWARD. 
DAVID  HUMPHREYS. 
SAMUEL  HUNTINGTON. 
W.  JACKSON. 
W.  S.  JOHNSON. 
BARON  DE  KALB. 
JAMES  KENT. 
HENRY  KNOX. 
KOSCIUSZKO. 
LA  FAYETTE. 
JOHN  LAURENS. 
HENRY  LEE. 


BENJAMIN  LINCOLN. 
FRANCIS  MARION. 

I.  McHENRY. 
L.  MclNTOSH. 

DANIEL  MORGAN. 

ROBERT  MORRIS. 

WILLIAM  MOULTRIE. 

ANDREW  PICKENS. 

TIMOTHY  PICKERING. 

CHARLES  COTESWORTH  PINCK.NBT. 

THOMAS  PINCKNEY. 

ROCHAMBEAU. 

PHILIP  SCHUYLER. 

THEODORE  SEDGWICK. 

WILLIAM  SMALLWOOD. 

JOHN  STARK. 

A.  ST.  CLAIR. 

BARON  DE  STEUBEN. 

JAMES  SULLIVAN. 

THOMAS  SUMTER. 

TALLEYRAND. 

GEORGE  WASHINGTON. 

WILLIAM  WASHINGTON. 

ANTHONY  WAYNE. 

O.  H.  WILLIAMS. 

HUGH  WILLIAMSON. 

JAMES  WILSON. 

OLIVER  WOLCOTT. 


CONTENTS  OF  VOLUME  1. 


CHAPTER    I. 

The  American  Union — New  York  under  the  Dutch — Conquest  by  England — 
Religious  Feuds — Political  Differences — Taxation  —  Liberty  of  Press — 
Albany  Convention — Plan  of  Union — Treaty  of  Paris — Sugar  Act — Com- 
mittees of  Correspondence — Stamp  Act — Popular  Excitement — Stamp  Ac  t 
— Congress — Popular  Violence — Repeal  of  Stamp  Act — Parliamentary  Tax- 
ation— Non-Importation — Episcopate  in  America — Fanners'  Letters — New 
York  in  Opposition — Committees — Philip  Schuyler — Virginia — Massachu- 
setts— Trade  with  Indians — Supplies  to  Troops — Address  of  a  Son  of 
Liberty — Voted  a  Libel — Sclmyler  in  Opposition — Election  by  Ballot — 
Liberty  Pole — Riots  in  New  York — McDougall  Imprisoned — Boston  Mas- 
sacre—  Non-Importation  abandoned  —  McDougall  at  large — Arrival  of 
Hamilton 1 

CHAPTER    II. 

Nevis — Birth-place  of  Hamilton  —  His  Descent  and  Education — Letter  to 
Stevens — Studies — Describes  a  Hurricane — At  School  in  New  Jersey — 
Visits  Princeton — Enters  King's  College — Religious  Impressions — Destruc- 
tion of  Tea — Boston  Port  Bill — Quebec  Bill — New  York  Committee — A 
Congress  proposed — Meeting  in  the  Fields — Hamilton's  Speech — Election 
of  Delegates  ..........  40 

CHAPTER    III. 

First  Continental  Congress — Defence  of  Ministry,  by  A.  W.  Farmer — Full 
Vindication — View  of  the  Controversy — The  Farmer  Refuted — Ministerial 
Ascendency  in  New  York — Unsuccessful  opposition — Schuyler — Clinton — 
Jay — Dutch  population — New  York  Assembly  adjourns — Provincial  Con- 
gress elected — Society  Library — Sears  imprisoned — Liberated — Washing- 
ton at  Fairfax — Parliament — Chatham's  Conciliatory  Bill — Burke — Re- 
strictive Acts  —  Franklin  —  British  troops  march  to  Salem — Timothy 
Pickering — Battle  of  Lexington — Risings  of  the  People — Measures  of  hos- 


vi  CONTENTS    OF    VOLUME    I. 

tility — New  York  Commotions — Capture  of  Crown  Point  and  Ticonaeroga 
— Second  Congress — Its  proceedings — Address  to  Canada — Washington 
Commander-in-Chief—  General  Staff — Emission  of  Paper  Money — Indian 
Departments — Bunker's  Hill — Manifestoes  by  Congress — New  York  Con- 
gress— Washington — Tryon — Plan  of  Conciliation — Quebec  Bill — Hamil- 
ton's "  Remarks  "  Joins  a  Volunteer  Corps — Fire  of  the  Asia — Commo- 
tions in  New  York — Hamilton's  Appeals  to  the  Mob — Flight  of  Tryon — 
Attack  on  the  Press — Hamilton's  intervention  ....  58 

CHAPTER    IV. 

Councils  at  New  York — Schuyler — Proceedings  of  Congress — New  Army — 
Advance  into  Canada — Death  of  Montgomery — Evacuation  of  Boston — 
Burning  of  Norfolk — Washington  —  Parliament — Fox — Burke — Prohibi- 
tion of  Trade — Armed  Subsidies — Declaration  by  Congress — Slave  Trade 
prohibited — Approaches  to  Independence — Hamilton — Ripening  opinions 
of  Colonies — Recommendation  to  form  Governments — Declaration  of  In- 
dependence— Its  Reception 102 

CHAPTER    V. 

Hamilton  appointed  Captain  of  Artillery — His  Studies — Initiative  idea  of  a 
National  Government — Howe  near  New  York — Washington  in  command 
— Tryon — Putnam — Battle  of  Long  Island — Retreat  to  Harlem — Hamil- 
ton's first  interview  with  Washington — Movements  of  Armies — Battle  of 
White  Plains — Hamilton's  conduct — Armies  retire  —  Fort  Washington 
captured — Washington  crosses  the  Hudson — Pursuit  by  the  British — Stand 
at  the  Raritan — Hamilton — Battles  of  Trenton  and  Princeton — Post  at 
Morristown 120 

CHAPTER    VI. 

Conduct  of  General  Lee — Remonstrances  of  Washington — Capture  of  Lee — Heath 
— Sullivan  in  command — Gates — John  Adams, — His  alarm  and  flight — 
Return  and  Censure  of  Washington — Nathaniel  Greene — John  Sullivan — 
Henry  Knox  —  Col.  Harrison — Tilghman — Meade — Webb — Hamilton — 
Aid  to  Washington 139 

CHAPTER    VII. 

Hamilton  to  Committee  of  New  York — Washington  as  to  his  Staff — Hamilton 
as  Correspondent  for  Washington — Washington  to  Congress — Hamilton  to 
Howe — To  Sterling — To  New  York  Convention — Washington  as  to  Great 
Britain — France — State  Governments — Constitution  of  New  York — Ham- 
ilton in  favor  of  Representative  Democracies — Lenity  to  disaffected — As 
to  Prisoners — To  Howe  ...  172 


CONTENTS    OF    VOLUME    I.  vij 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

Hamilton  as  to  policy  of  Enemy — Positions  of  Americans — Letters  to  Put- 
natn— Hamilton  as  to  policy  of  America — Foreign  Mercenaries — Mirabeau's 
appeal — Letters  to  Trumbull — Northern  army — Discontents  of  Connecti- 
cut troops — Schuyler — Wooster — Schuyler  proposes  to  resign — Washing- 
ton interposes — Gates  ordered  to  Canada — Schuyler  s  deportment — Dis- 
content of  Gates — Visit  to  Congress — Burgoyne  near  Lake  Champlain — 
— Ticonderoga  retaken — Retreat  of  St.  Clair — Arnold  to  Northern  array 
— Hamilton  for  Washington  to  Schuyler — to  G.  Morris — Movements  ol 
Howe 201 

CHAPTER    IX. 

Schuyler's  movements — Letter  by  Hamilton — Letter  of  Doctor  Knox — Reply 
— Views  as  to  Burgoyne — Letter  to  Putnam — Alarms  at  Albany — Letter 
to  Trumbull — Hostility  of  New  England  to  Schuyler — Superseded  by  Gates 
— Hamilton  to  New  York  Council  of  Safety — To  Governor  Clinton — To 
Livingston  as  to  Burgoyne — Morgan's  corps — Letter  for  Washington  to 
Congress  as  to  operations  of  army — Sullivan  on  Staten  Island — Vindica- 
tion of  him  , 240 

CHAPTER    X. 

Howe  at  head  of  Elk — Advance  of  Cornwallis — Washington  at  Chadsford — 
Hamilton  to  G.  Morris — Battle  of  Brandy  wine — Retreat  of  Americana— Sul- 
livan vindicated — Letter  by  Hamilton  to  Congress — Fired  upon  when  re- 
connoitring— Letters  to  Hancock — John  Adams'  second  flight,  and  cen- 
sure of  Washington — Hamilton  ordered  to  impress  at  Philadelphia — Letter 
to  Congress — Details  movements  of  army — Howe  takes  Philadelphia — 
Encamps  at  Germantown — Urgent  Letters  by  Hamilton — Battle  of  Ger- 
mantown — McDougall  promoted — Admiral  Howe  in  Delaware — Letters 
by  Hamilton  to  Cols.  Greene,  Smith,  Hazlewood — Attack  and  Defence  of 
Red  Bank— Death  of  Donop 267 

CHAPTER    XI. 

Bnrgoyne's  advance — Schuyler  retires — Stark — Battle  of  Bennington — Gates 
in  command — Schuyler  to  G.  Morris — Letter  by  Hamilton  to  Gutes — 
Hamilton  to  G.  Morris — Battle  of  Bemis  Heights — Arnold — His  contro- 
versy with  Gates — Misconduct  of  Putnam — Capture  of  Forts  Montgomery 
and  Clinton — Victory  at  Saratoga — Gallantry  of  Morgan  and  Arnold — 
Retreat  and  surrender  of  Burgoyne — Maraud  of  Vaughan  and  Tryon — 
Putnam  ,  .  302 


CONTENTS    OF    VOLUME    I. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

Mission  of  Hamilton  to  Gates — Letters  to  Washington — Misconduct  of  Gates 
and  Putnam — Clinton's  energy — Washington  to  Hamilton — Putnam  to 
Washington — Rebuked — Fortification  of  Highlands — Forts  Mifflin  and 
Mercer  evacuated — Duplessis 337 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

Hostility  of  Gates  to  Washington — Lovell  and  Reed  to  Gates — The  Cabal — 
Conway — Richard  Henry  Lee — Mifflin — Gates  chosen  to  Board  of  War — 
Lovell  to  Gates — Gates' correspondence  with  Washington — Conway  .  365 

CHAPTER    XIV. 

Intrigues  of  Cabal — Letters  by  Hamilton  to  Congress — Conway  to  Washington 
— Committee  to  Head  Quarters — Army  at  Valley  Forge — Rush  and  Shippen 
— Craig  to  Washington — Rush  to  Patrick  Henry — Gates  to  Washington 
- — Reply — Expedition  to  Canada — Lafayette — G.  Morris  to  Washington — 
— Disgrace  of  Conway — Mifflin  resigns — Gordon  to  Washington — Reply — 
Cabal  discomfited — John  Adams — A  party  to  it — His  Notions — Samuel 
Adams — His  instrumentality — Character  of  Congress  by  G.  Morris,  and 
by  Hamilton 386 

CHAPTER    XV. 

The  American  Army — Its  organization — Foreign  officers — Hamilton  to  Duer 
Washington  to  Lee — Army  plan — Draft  by  Hamilton — Wants  of  army — 
Greene  Quarter-Master-General — Inspector-General — Steuben — Reduction 
of  corps — Inspectorship  draft  by  Hamilton — Indians — Prisoners — Exchange 
of — Hamilton  for  Washington  to  Congress — Hamilton  to  Sir  H.  Clinton — 
Appointed  to  negotiate  cartel — Half  pay  to  officers — Letter  by  Hamilton 
— Supplies — Treaties  with  France — Conciliatory  bills — Proceedings  of 
Congress — Letter  to  Tryon — Address  by  Congress — Letter  by  Hamilton 
to  Greene — Reorganization  of  Army — Exchange  of  Prisoners  .  425 


CHAPTER  XVL 

Force  and  policy  of  Enemy — Movement  under  La  Fayette — Surprised  at  Barren 
Hill — Council  of  War — Hamilton's  comment — Enemy  leave  Philadelphia — 
Hamilton  draws  instructions  to  Arnold— Movement  of  Americans — Hamil- 
ton to  Putnam — to  Cadwallader — Council  of  war — Greene  and  Hamilton — 
Conduct  of  General  Lee — Order  to  La  Fayette — Hamilton  sent  forward — 


CONTENTS    OF    VOLUME    I.  Jx 

Writes  to  La  Fayette  and  to  Washington — Order  to  General  Lee — Battle  of 
Monmouth — Enemy  proceeds  to  Sandy  Hook — Hamilton  to  Boudinot — Con- 
duct of  Washington  and  Lee — Court-martial — Lee  suspended — Duel  with 
Laurens — Death  of  Otis 459 

CHAPTER    XVII. 

Marine  of  France — D'Estaing — Mission  of  Hamilton — Sullivan  in  Rhode  Isl- 
and— Hamilton  to  Washington — to  Boudinot  as  to  Steuben — Events  at 
Rhode  Island — Hamilton  for  Washington  to  Greene,  Sullivan  and  Governor 
Clinton — Dissatisfaction  of  La  Fayette — Letter  to  Sullivan — Hamilton  to 
La  Fayette — Hamilton  to  Boudinot — Resolutions  of  Congress — Letter  by 
Hamilton  to  D'Estaing — Washington  takes  position  on  Hudson — McDougall 
as  to  Gates — Lovell  to  Gates — Report  by  Hamilton  as  to  conquest  of 
Canada — Hamilton  as  to  policy  of  the  enemy — Arrival  and  audience  of 
Gerard  de  Rayneval — Franklin  sole  envoy  to  France — Instructions — Ham- 
ilton for  Washington  as  to  movements  upon  Canada — Hamilton  commis- 
sioner to  negotiate  exchange  of  prisoners — Hamilton  for  Washington  to 
Congress — Hamilton  for  Washington  to  McDougall  and  Schuyler — Inva- 
sion of  Canada  abandoned — Washington  to  Harrison  and  to  Reed — Hamil- 
ton writes  essays  of  Publius  .......  482 

CHAPTER    XVIII. 

Hamilton  as  to  recruiting  and  operations  of  army — Plan  of  campaign — Ham- 
ilton to  committee  as  to  provisions  for  officers — Draws  plan  as  to  supply 
of  clothing — also  new  plan  of  Inspectorship — Inroads  of  enemy  upon  New 
Jersey — Attempt  to  seize  Governor  Livingston — Hamilton  addresses  him 
in  behalf  of  Washington — Dissuades  seizure  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton — Hamil- 
ton to  La  Luzerne  for  Washington — Hamilton  to  Jay — Black  levies  and 
Emancipation  of  Slaves — Army  for  Southern  States — Lanrens  to  Hamilton 
— Reply — Hamilton  for  Washington  to  Congress  — Hamilton  for  Washing- 
ton to  Gates — Reply — Hamilton  to  G.  Morris  for  Washington — Resigna- 
tions by  officers — Jersey  line — Letter  for  Washington  by  Hamilton — Letter 
to  Congress — Frontier  alarms — Instructions  by  Hamilton  to  Sullivan — In- 
dian campaign — Exchange  of  prisoners  .  .  .  .  .  518 

CHAPTER    XIX. 

Hamilton  for  Washington  to  Wayne — Expedition  of  Enemy  to  New  Haven — 
Burning  of  Fairfield — Attack  and  capture  of  Stony  Point — Colonel  Fleury 
— "War  in  South  Carolina — Lincoln  relieves  Charleston — Hamilton  for 
Washington  to  Lincoln — Attack  by  Colonel  Lee  on  post  at  Paulus  Hook — 
Hamilton  as  to  special  commands — Hamilton  to  Duane — Hamilton  to 
Steuben — Conference  of  Washington  and  La  Luzerne — Delinquency  of  Vir- 
ginia— Patrick  Henry  to  Washington — Reply  by  Hamilton — Hamilton's 


CONTENTS    OF    VOLUME    1. 

mission  to  D'Estaing — Attack  on  Savannah  and  defeat — Death  of  Pulaski 
— Hamilton  contemplated  for  special  mission  to  France — Letter  of  Laurens 
— Hamilton  for  Washington  to  Congress — Depreciation  of  currency — De- 
fective administration  by  Boards — Crude  schemes  of  Finance — Hamilton 
to  Robert  Morris,  proposing  an  effective  financial  policy — a  foreign  Loan 
— a  Bank  of  the  United  States — an  Executive  ministry  of  separate  De- 
partments • 547 


THE    HISTOEY 


OF    THE 


CHAPTER    I. 

INDEPENDENCE  was  the  natural  ultimate  condition  of 
colonies  as  vigorous  and  remote  from  the  parent  govern- 
ment as  were  those  of  North  America. 

What  form  of  being  these  independencies  would  as- 
sume, whether  of  distinct  sovereignties,  or  of  parties  to 
one,  or  to  several  Federal  compacts,  or  of  members  of 
one  controlling  National  system,  was  the  problem  of  their 
happiness. 

As  the  "  first  idea  of  a  real  UNION  or  THE  PEOPLE  OP 
THE  UNITED  STATES,"  is  ascribed  to  ALEXANDER  HAM- 
ILTON ;  *  and  as  he  had  a  large  share  in  moulding  their 

*  "  Indeed  he  was  the  first  to  perceive  and  develop  the  idea  of  a  real  union 
of  the  people  of  the  United  States." — History  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  by  George  Ticknor  Curtis,  L  413. 

"  Out  of  this  boundless  chaos,  out  of  this  immense  mass  of  conflicting  ele- 
ments, the  fair  and  majestic  form  of  the  American  Federal  Constitution  grad- 
ually arose,  created  by  the  masterly  touch  of  his  hand." — The  Life  and  Times  of 
Alexander  Hamilton,  Philadelphia,  1856. 

VOL.  L— 1. 


2  THE    KEPUBLIC. 

destinies,  it  is  proposed  to  trace  in  his  life  and  writings 
the  history  of  the  origin  and  early  policy  of  this  GREAT 
REPUBLIC. 

In  this  view  it  is  of  especial  interest  to  advert  to  the 
peculiar  state  and  character  of  the  colony  of  New  York 
— the  scene  of  his  first  and  latest  efforts — where  the  idea 
of  an  effective  Union  earliest  took  a  definite  shape. 

Of  all  British  America,  this  province  had  the  greatest 
natural  advantages.  Situate  between  those  parallels  of 
latitude  which  comprise  its  most  habitable  portion — Its 
interior  a  part  of  that  vast  intervale  which  embraces  the 
great  lakes  that,  with  their  cataract,  form  the  most  re- 
markable feature  of  this  continent — an  extensive  shore 
line  accessible  throughout  the  year,  yet  protected  by  an 
island  that  breasts  the  ocean,  and  with  head  lands  of 
commanding  defence. — Its  seaport  proudly  seated  at  the 
mouth  of  a  noble  river,  which,  bursting  its  mountain  bar- 
rier, glides  gently  onward,  ere  long  to  be  connected  by  the 
hand  of  art  with  the  far  distant  gulfs  of  Mexico  and  of  the 
St.  Lawrence — with  a  genial  climate  and  a  fruitful  soil, — 
New  York  only  required  the  exertions  of  unfettered  indus- 
try to  render  it  equal  to  all  that  nature  intended. 

Of  the  English  colonies,  which  subsequently  united, 
this  alone  was  first  peopled  by  persons  not  of  English 
descent. 

Six  years  after  *  the  settlement  of  Virginia,  a  grant  was 
made  by  the  States  General  to  "  The  United  New  Nether- 
land  Company,"  on  the  plea  of  its  discovery,  of  the  terri- 
tory lying  on  the  coast  of  North  America,  between  the 
rivers  Connecticut  and  Delaware,  by  them  designated  as 
the  "  New  Netherlands."  This  grant  conferred  the  exclu- 
sive right  of  visiting  and  trading  with  this  distant  region. 
The  sole  object  of  this  colonization  was  trade  with  the 

«  1C14. 


HAMILTON.  ^ 

Indians, — to  protect  which,  an  earthen  fort  was  erected 
at  New  Amsterdam,  now  the  city  of  New  York ;  *  and 
another  of  pine  logs  at  Fort  Orange,  now  Albany,  where 
the  traffic  in  furs  and  peltry  was  conducted.  In  the  be- 
ginning, a  close  monopoly,  it  was  ere  long  opened  to  pri- 
vate merchants  paying  to  the  company  fixed  duties  of 
import  and  export. 

Soon  after  the  organization  of  this  company,  its  inter- 
ests were  transferred  to  a  more  numerous  association, 
called  the  "  Dutch  West  India  Company,"  composed  of 
wealthy  and  enterprising  merchants. 

Of  these,  a  few  purchased  lands  from  the  Indians  ;  and 
obtained  renewable  patents  f  from  the  company,  whose 
managers  were  termed  "Lords  Directors."  These  pa- 
tentees were  known  as  "  Patroons ; "  at  whose  expense 
some  of  the  first  settlers  were  transferred  hither,  and 
others  at  the  joint  expense  of  the  company. 

*  "  The  colony  was  planted,  at  this  time,  on  the  Ufanhates,  where  a  fort  was 
staked  out.  *  *  *  The  counting-house  there  is  kept  in  a  stone  building, 
thatched  with  reed ;  the  other  houses  are  of  the  bark  of  trees.  Each  has  his 
own  house.  The  Director  and  Koopman  live  together;  there  are  thirty  ordi- 
nary houses  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  which  runs  nearly  north  and  south. 
The  Hon.  Peter  Minuit  is  director  there  at  present ;  Jan  Lempo  Schout  (Sher- 
iff), Sebastien  Janz  Cral,  and  Jan  Huyck,  Comforters  of  the  Sick,  who,  whilst 
awaiting  a  clergyman,  read  to  the  commonalty  on  Sundays,  from  texts  of 
Scripture  with  the  Comment.  Francois  Molemaccher  is  busy  building  a  horse 
mill,  over  which  shall  be  constructed  a  spacious  room,  sufficient  to  accommo- 
date a  large  congregation,  and  then  a  tower  is  to  be  erected,  where  the  bells 
brought  from  Porto  Rico  will  be  hung.'' — Wassena&r's  Historic  Van  Europa, 
1621-1632.  In  Doc.  Hist,  of  New  York,  iii.  27. 

f  The  condition  of  renewal  was  the  payment  within  a  year  "of  one  pair 
of  iron  gauntlets,  and  twenty  guilders."  This  feudal  acknowledgment  is  thus 
referred  to  by  Prior : 

"  The  funeral  of  some  valiant  knight 
May  give  this  thing  its  proper  light, 
View  his  lice  gauntlets  that  declare 
That  both  his  hands  were  used  to  wur." 


I  THE    KEPUBLIC. 

These  settlers  were  from  the  frontiers  of  Flanders  and 
France,  lying  between  the  Scheldt  and  the  Lys,  "the 
head-quarters  of  the  Calvinists,"  *  chiefly  peasants  and 
handicraftsmen,  bound  to  service  for  a  term  of  years 
to  remunerate  the  first  outlay.  Though  poor,  their 
poverty  was  that  of  exiles  banished  for  their  devotion 
to  the  rights  of  conscience.  With  them  came  a  few 
freemen. 

Over  these  colonists  the  Patroons  were  vested  with  the 
administration  of  civil  and  criminal  justice  ;  with  power 
to  establish  towns ;  to  erect  courts ;  appoint  the  local 
magistrates.  Their  laws  were  the  civil  code,  the  enact- 
ments of  the  States-General,  and  the  ordinances  of  the 
company  in  Holland ;  to  whose  supreme  court  an  appeal 
was  secured.  Of  these  settlements,  some  were  Manors, 
similar  to  those  in  Holland,  exercising  within  themselves 
a  limited  civil  and  criminal  jurisdiction,  and  enjoying  other 
Dutch  manorial  rights ;  and  smaller  "  Boweries."  The 
professed  religion  was  that  of  the  Dutch  Reformed  Church. 

In  this  simple  state,  this  colony,  though  with  frequent 
small  arrivals  from  the  Low  Countries,  remained  feeble 
and  unattractive.  In  the  town  of  New  Amsterdam  was 
the  chief  increase. 

Such  was  the  policy  observed,  that  forty  years  elapsed 
before  permission  was  granted  to  it,  as  a  boon,  to  nom- 
inate persons,  from  whom  nine  men  were  selected,  by 
the  Director  and  Council,  to  confer,  as  "Tribunes,"  on 
questions  of  the  welfare  of  the  commonalty  and  of  the 
country — three  merchants,  three  citizens,  three  farmers. 
Their  successors  were  to  be  chosen  by  the  director,  with- 
out consulting  the  commonalty.  This  was  in  imitation  of 
a  tribunal  of  some  antiquity  in  Holland.  Two  years  after, 
the  first  application  was  made  to  the  States-General  for  a 

*  History  of  Philip  the  Second,  by  William  H.  Prescott,  ii.  22. 


HAMILTON.  f> 

local  government,  the  colony  being  invigorated  by  acces- 
sions of  a  higher  class  of  emigrants  from  other  parts  of 
the  Low  Countries — who  had  passed  through  the  furnace 
of  persecution,  had  triumphed  over  the  long-continued 
tyranny  of  Spain,*  and  brought  with  them  the  invaluable 
consciousness  of  their  virtue  and  their  power  to  resist. 

Events  were,  meanwhile,  preparing  for  a  change  that 
soon  followed.  The  western  limits  of  the  colony  were 
curtailed  by  settlements  upon  the  Delaware.  New  Eng- 
land was  pressing  on  the  east,  two-thirds  of  the  island  of 
Nassau,  or  Long  Island,  being  occupied  by  emigrants  from 
Connecticut,  called  "  the  New  England  Intrusions."  The 
interior  was  trembling  before  the  warlike  Indian  tribes, 
who,  as  the  Six  Nations,  gave  to  the  colonists  the  example 
of  a  Federal  Republic,  and,  by  their  successes,  taught  the 
benefits  of  union. f  The  townspeople  became  discon- 
tented with  a  governor  true  to  the  duties  of  his  situation, 
and,  in  the  midst  of  local  broils,  England  asserted  her 
colonial  claims.  In  sixteen  hundred  sixty-four,  the  Dutch 
capitulated  to  a  force  they  were  unable  to  resist.  This 
capitulation  secured  to  them  freedom  of  conscience,  their 
own  church  worship  and  discipline,  the  titles  to  their 
lands,  and  "  their  own  customs  concerning  their  inheri- 
tances." 

The  policy  of  the  first  English  governor  J  was  equally 
wise.  To  encourage  new  planters,  their  purchases  were 
to  be  made  of  the  sachems,  and  to  be  recorded  without 
license  of  the  governor ;  they  were  to  be  joint  and  con- 
tiguous, forming  townships ;  and  to  remain  for  ever  free 
lands  at  the  disposal  of  the  owners.  Each  township  to 
make  its  own  laws,  and  to  decide  its  small  cases ;  to  pay 

*  By  the  treaty  of  Westphalia,  1648,  the  independence  of  the  Netherlands 
was  acknowledged. 

f  Golden,  ii.  113.  \  Richard  Nicolls. 


5  THE    KEPUBLIC. 

its  own  minister,  who  was  to  be  elected  by  the  majority 
of  the  householders,  the  compensation  stipulated ;  and  to 
have  the  free  choice  of  its  officers,  civil  and  military. 
New  Amsterdam,  now  called  New  York,  was  incorpo- 
rated. Not  long  after,  the  colony  was  recovered  by  the 
Dutch,  but  ere  a  twelvemonth  was  restored  to  Eng- 
land.* 

Three  years  after  the  revolution  in  England,  the  first 
assembly  of  this  province  was  convened.  The  English 
common  law,  and  all  existing  statutes,  not  local,  were  de- 
clared to  be  in  force,  together  with  such  colonial  laws  as 
should  be  passed  by  the  assembly  and  council,  and  ap- 
proved by  the  governor  and  by  the  crown — the  govern- 
ment being  composed  of  this  assembly  chosen  by  the 
people,  and  of  the  council  and  governor  appointed  by  the 
king.  A  judiciary  system  was  established,  analogous,  in 
many  respects,  to  that  of  England,  which  continued  more 
than  an  hundred  years,  being,  in  all  its  parts,  the  most 
complete  that  has  existed  in  America. 

Soon  after  the  establishment  of  the  English  suprem- 
acy, began  an  exhibition  of  that  independent  spirit  which 
resulted  from  the  presence  of  different  races,  with  differ- 
ent laws  and  customs,  and  differing  religious  creeds,  under 
a  government  •  hated  by  the  majority  because  of  previous 
national  contests,  and  now,  a  subjugated  people. 

An  early,  and  for  a  time,  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to 
establish  the  supremacy  of  the  Church  of  England,  was 
among  the  first  sources  of  discord.  It  was  resisted  by 
the  Dutch  population  with  all  the  earnestness  of  their 
sincere  convictions  and  determined  spirit,  as  a  violation  of 
the  terms  of  their  capitulation,  claiming  that  a  legal  pro- 
vision  for  the  clergy  equally  contemplated  Protestant  dis- 
senters. 

*  1674. 


HAMILTON.  7 

The  Dutch  were  strengthened  by  the  advent  of  other 
dissenting  settlers.  French  Huguenots  came  from  Eng- 
land and  the  West  Indies^smarting  under  recent  proscrip- 
tion ;'  a  few  poor  Lutherans  from  the  Lower  Palatinate  in 
Germany,  also  escaping  persecution,  were  placed,  by  the 
charily  of  Queen  Anne,  in  Ulster,  on  the  Hudson,  to 
which  an  Irish  population  gave  its  name  ;  other  Germans 
were  seen  on  the  east  side  of  that  river,  while  some  sub- 
sequently settled  on  the  fertile  Mohawk,  called  the  Ger- 
man flats.  A  body  of  Scotch  Calvinists  from  Argyle  fol- 
lowed, planting  a  town  of  that  name  in  northern  New 
York — a  region  as  bleak  as  their  own  Highland  home— 
serving  as  a  brave  frontier  guard.  A  few  emigrants  from 
Wales  were  scattered  through  the  province.  These,  to- 
gether with  the  Puritans,  from  Connecticut,  constituted  a 
mass  of  discordant  material,*  but  agreeing  in  one  common 
feeling  of  resistance  to  the  union  of  Church  and  State  ; 
somewhat  tolerant  to  each  other,  wholly  intolerant  to  those 
of  the  Romish  creed,  f  and  to  the  unoffending  Quakers. 

Before  the  excitement,  which  this  moving  question  of 
a  paramount  church  caused,  had  subsided,  for  it  had  been 
kept  up  by  recent  instances  of  religious  violence,  the  as- 
sembly of  this  province  took  its  stand  on  the  great  ques- 
tion of  subsidies. 

Dissatisfaction    with    the    Governor    had    recentlyj 

*  Governor  Dongan's  Report,  1687.  "  In  New  York  were  a  minister  of 
the  Church  of  England — a  Dutch  Calviuist — a  French  Calvinist — a  Dutch  Lu- 
theran Church."  "  Here  bee  not  many  of  the  Church  of  England ;  few  Roman 
Catholicks — abundance  of  Quakers — preachers  men,  women  especially — anti- 
Sabbatarians — some  Anabaptists — some  Independents — some  Jews — in  short  of 
all  sorts  of  opinion  there  are  some,  and  the  most  part  of  none  at  all." 

f  An  act  was  passed  (1700),  "for  hanging  every  Popish  priest  that  came 
voluntarily  into  the  province," — excused  for  the  reason  they  were  "  continu- 
ally practising  upon  our  Indians." — Smith's  N.  F.,  i.  135. 

i  1705. 


8  THE  EEPUBLIC. 

prompted  them  to  appoint  a  treasurer  of  the  moneys  raised 
by  them,  which,  in  an  act  for  the  defence  of  the  frontier, 
they  made  payable  to  him.  This  was  objected  to,  and  a 
prorogation  followed.  The  assembly  was  again  convened 
in  seventeen  hundred  and  eight.  Its  purpose  was  not 
changed.  Their  "Charter  of  Liberties"  had  provided 
that  "  no  tax  shall  be  assessed,  on  any  pretence  whatever, 
but  by  the  consent  of  the  assembly."  *  They  now  pro- 
nounced such  a  procedure  "  a  grievance,  and  a  violation 
of  the  people's  property ; "  and,  with  a  large  view  of  the 
future,  declared  that  "  any  tax  or  burthen  on  goods  im- 
ported or  exported,  or  any  clog  or  hindrance  on  traffic 
or  commerce,  will  unavoidably  prove  the  ruin  of  this  col- 
ony." The  obnoxious  governor  was  removed,  but  the  as- 
sembly was  unmoved.  They  granted  supplies,  but  limited 
them  to  the  year,  thus  asserting  their  control  over  the 
public  purse. 

From  this  period,  the  history  of  this  province  exhibits 
an  almost  unceasing  contest  between  the  governors  and 
the  assemblies ;  the  former  menacing  or  soothing,  as  was 
their  temperament ;  the  latter  firm  in  the  main,  but 
sometimes  yielding  from  special  motives  or  to  special 
influences. 

A  short  time  after  their  declaration,  that  they  could 
not  be  taxed  without  their  own  consent,  the  governor  de- 
clared to  them,  "  If  you  have  been  in  any  thing  distin- 
guished, it  is  by  an  extraordinary  measure  of  royal  bounty 
and  care.  I  hope  you  will  make  suitable  returns,  lest 
some  insinuations  much  repeated  of  late  years,  should 
gain  credit  at  last,  that,  however  your  resentment  has 
fallen  upon  the  governor,  it  is  the  government  you  dislike. 
It  is  necesary  at  this  time  you  be  told  also,  that  giving 
money  for  the  support  of  government,  and  disposing  of  it 

*  Oct.  7th,  1683. 


HAMILTON.  9 

at  your  pleasure,  is  the  same  with  giving  none  at  all." 
They  were  told,  that,  like  the  council,  they  existed  "by 
the  mere  grace  of  the  crown."  Not  yielding,  they  were 
dissolved.  Their  successors,  more  compliant,  and  diverted 
by  an  expedition  to  Canada,  voted  a  five  years'  support. 
Their  septennial  term  expiring,  a  new  election  returned  a 
more  determined  body.  But  indications  of  a  purpose  still 
more  to  limit  their  limited  commerce,  alarmed  them. 
They  voted  a  support  to  the  government  for  six  years ; 
and  granted  out  of  it  a  salary,  with  emoluments,  to  the 
governor.*  Not  meeting  the  full  extent  of  his  expecta- 
tions, open  insult  followed. f  The  population  of  the  colony 
had  doubled  within  thirty  years.  It  now  contained  sixty 
thousand  people,  seven  thousand  of  whom  were  slaves. 

A  new  governor  sought  to  conciliate  this  thriving 
province,  which  kept  up  its  relations  with  Holland  by  a 
contraband  trade,  especially  in  teas.  The  assembly  were 
inflexible,  stigmatizing  their  predecessors  as  "betrayers 
of  the  rights  of  the  people,"  in  granting  permanent  funds, 
which,  they  charged,  had  been  used  with  prodigality. 
They  told  him,  "You  are  not  to  expect  that  we  either 
will  raise  sums  unfit  to  be  raised ;  or  put  what  we  shall 
raise  into  the  power  of  a  governor  to  misapply,  if  we  can 
prevent  it ;  nor  shall  we  make  up  any  other  deficiencies 
than  what  we  conceive  are  fit  and  just  to  be  paid,  or  con- 
tinue what  support  or  revenue  we  raise  for  any  longer  time 
than  one  year ;  nor  do  we  think  it  convenient  to  do  even 
that,  until  such  laws  are  passed  as  we  conceive  necessary 
for  the  safety  of  the  inhabitants  of  this  colony,  who  have 
reposed  a  trust  in  us,  for  that  only  purpose,  and  which  we 

*  1732. 

f  The  governor  accosted  Mr.  Morris,  one  of  the  members,  on  this  occa- 
sion, in  terms  expressing  a  contempt  of  the  vote.  "  Why  did  they  not  add, 
shillings  and  pence?  Do  they  think  I  came  from  England  for  money?  I'll 
make  them  know  better." — Smith,  ii.  2. 


10  THE   REPUBLIC. 

are  sure  you  will  think  it  reasonable  we  should  act  agree- 
ably to ;  and,  by  the  grace  of  God  we  will  endeavor 
not  to  deceive  them."  A  recent  verdict  vindicating  the 
liberty  of  the  press  in  its  American  infancy,*  had  quick- 
ened the  heart  of  the  colony. 

As  results  f  of  their  patriotism,  the  militia  act  was  re- 
modelled ;  the  practice  of  the  law  amended ;  courts  of 
summary  decision  established ;  a  school,  recently  insti- 
tuted, encouraged ;  the  system  of  annual  provision  reas- 
serted ;  and  triennial  elections  ordained.  Other  efforts  to 
abridge  the  influence  of  the  crown,  and  for  the  public 
good  were  made,  but  failed ;  and  to  complete  the  disap- 
pointment, the  triennial  act  was  rejected  by  the  king. 

Sore  at  this  result,  the  next  session  exhibited  the  same 
determined  spirit  in  all  their  acts,  but  denying  their  desire 
for  independence.  Sir  George  Clinton  was  now  governor. 
With  a  temper  little  disposed  to  conciliation,  and  unable 
to  control  by  patronage  the  growing  dissatisfaction,  after 
frequent  altercations  with,  and  prorogations  of  the  assem- 
bly, application  was  made  by  him  to  the  crown  for  the 
direct  interposition  of  its  authority.  Yielding  to  this  re- 
quest, a  new  instruction  was  issued.  It  enjoined  the 
commander-in-chief  "to  call  the  council  and  assembly 
together,  and  in  the  strongest  and  most  solemn  manner  to 
declare  the  king's  high  displeasure  for  their  neglect  and 
contempt ;  to  exact  due  obedience,  to  recede  from  all 
encroachments,  to  demean  themselves  peaceably,  to  con- 
sider without  delay  of  a  proper  law  for  a  permanent 
revenue,  solid,  indefinite,  and  without  limitation,  giving 
salaries  to  the  officials,  and  providing  for  "  all  such  other 

*  The  first  Newspaper,  it  is  stated,  was  established  in  New  York  in  1738. 
The  trial  of  Zenger  was  in  1735.  Grahame's  U.  S.  says  the  papur  com- 
menced in  1725. — iii.  167. 

f  1737. 


HAMILTON.  11 

charges  as  may  be  fixed  or  ascertained."  And  it  ex- 
pressly directed  that  the  assembly  should  have  no  supervi- 
sion of  the  expenditure  of  their  supplies.  Clinton  had 
been  recalled,  but  the  assembly  were  not  the  less  resolved. 
Vindicating  their  conduct,  and  lamenting  the  discord,  they 
still  declared  their  conviction  *  "  that  it  is  not  for  the  in- 
terest of  his  majesty  and  for  the  public  good  of  this 
colony,  to  raise  a  support  in  any  other  manner  than  has 
been  done  for  sixteen  or  seventeen  years  past,  whatever 
it  may  be  for  the  private  interest  of  the  governor."  Their 
liberality,  without  any  recompense  from  the  crown,  as 
granted  to  the  other  colonies,  was  stated ;  and  they 
avowed  their  willingness  "  to  hazard  their  lives,  fortunes, 
and  all  that  was  dear  to  them,  against  all  the  king's  ene- 
mies whatsoever" 

This  language  had  a  meaning,  for  unwilling  as  New 
York  was  to  surrender  its  rights  to  arbitrary  mandates, 
it  was  most  willing  to  enter  upon  a  war  for  the  acquisition 
of  Canada.  This  accomplished,  the  pretext  would  no 
longer  exist  for  a  demand  of  extraordinary  supplies  ;  their 
colonial  rights  would  be  more  definitely  confirmed,  and 
the  terrible  evils  of  an  Indian  war  removed.  The  crown 
was  not  slow  to  avail  itself  of  a  feeling  common  to  the 
British  colonies.  Regarding,  from  the  recent  extension  oi 
the  French  possessions,  a  contest  for  dominion  in  America 
as  not  remote,  instructions  were  now  addressed  from 
England  to  the  governor  of  each  province,  calling  a  Con- 
vention of  Commissioners  to  represent  it  at  Albany,  in 
June,  seventeen  hundred  fifty-four.  The  avowed  objects 
of  this  assemblage  were  to  preserve  the  friendship  of  the 
Six  Nations  of  Indians,  and  to  prevent  encroachments  on 
the  British  dominions.  The  commissions  from  the  colo- 
nies all  contemplated  these  ends,  but  their  tone  differed. 

*  1763. 


12  THE   REPUBLIC. 

Most  were  guardedly  limited  to  them ;  Massachusetts  alone 
proposed  "  Articles  of  Union  and  Confederation  of  all  the 
Provinces  for  their  general  defence,  as  well  in  time  of 
peace  as  in  war."  At  this  important  meeting,  among  the 
commissioners  were  seen  Thomas  Hutchinson  from  Mas- 
sachusetts, Meschec  Weare  of  New  Hampshire,  and  Roger 
Wolcott  of  Connecticut,  Franklin  and  Penn  from  Penn- 
sylvania ;  the  lieutenant-governor  of  New  York,  James 
Delancey,  presiding. 

The  proposal  of  Massachusetts,  though  the  first  official 
recommendation  of  a  Colonial  Federal  Government,  was 
not  the  first  suggestion  of  it.  More  than  thirty  years  pre- 
vious it  had  been  publicly  recommended. 

Looking  to  the  necessity  of  a  protection  prompt  and 
efficient,  to  be  drawn  chiefly  from  the  united  resources  of 
the  American  colonists,  against  the  encroachments  of 
France  and  Spain,  an  inhabitant  of  Pennsylvania,  describ- 
ing the  province  of  Carolina,  hinted  the  outline  of  a  Fed- 
eral system  in  seventeen  hundred  and  twenty-two.* 

The  Indians  assembled  at  Albany  from  different  parts 
of  the  continent,  in  all  their  wild  and  various  costumes. 

*  "  A  description  of  tbe  English  Province  of  Carolina,  by  the  Spaniards 
called  Florida,  and  by  the  French,  La  Louisiane."  By  Daniel  Coxe.  The 
author  proposes  "  that  all  the  Colonies  appertaining  to  the  crown  of  Great 
Britain,  on  the  Northern  Continent  of  America,  be  united  under  a  legal,  regu- 
lar, and  firm  establishment." 

The  lieutenant  of  the  king,  or  supreme  governor,  to  be  appointed  by  him, 
to  reside  in  America,  and  to  appoint  the  governors  of  each  colony,  who  were 
to  be  subordinate. 

The  council  and  assembly  of  each  province  were  to  elect  annually  two  de- 
puties to  "  a  great  council  of  the  estates  of  the  colonies,"  and,  by  the  consent 
of  the  supreme  governor,  to  meet,  consult,  settle,  and  appoint  the  particular 
quotas  or  proportions  of  money,  men,  <tc.,  that  each  colony  was  to  raise  for 
their  mutual  defence  and  safety — the  supreme  governor  having  a  negative. 
Other  jurisdiction,  powers,  and  authorities,  it  was  intimated,  might  be  vested 
hi  the  governor  and  this  council. 


HAMILTON.  13 

They  were  told,  in  a  general  speech,  "We  come  to 
strengthen  and  brighten  the  chain  of  friendship — strong 
and  bright  so  long  as  the  sun  and  moon  shall  endure,  and 
in  the  name  of  the  Great  King,  our  Father,  and  in  behalf 
of  all  His  Majesty's  colonies,  we  now  solemnly  renew, 
brighten  and  strengthen  the  ancient  covenant  chain,  and 
promise  to  keep  the  same  inviolable  and  free  from  rust." 
A  chain  belt  was  delivered,  representing  the  king,  the 
colonies,  the  Six  Nations,  with  a  space  for  others.  The 
French  advances  were  then  stated,  and  they  were  asked 
'•  to  concert  how  to  scatter  these  clouds." 

The  Indians  complained  of  intrusions  on  their  lands : 
"  We  find  we  are  very  poor.  We  thought  we  had  yet 
land  round  about  us,  but  it  is  said,  there  are  writings  for 
it  all."  They  reminded  them  of  "the  condition  of  the 
ancient  covenant  chain,  that  they  be  considered  with  a 
brotherly  regard."  "  We  will  take  this  chain  belt,"  said 
Hendrick,  a  sachem  of  the  Mohawks,  "to  Onondaga, 
where  our  council  fire  always  burns,  and  keep  it  so  securely, 
that  neither  thunder  nor  lightning  shall  break  it.  There 
we  will  consult  over  it,  and  add  as  many  links  more  as  we 
can."  "  It  is  true  that  the  clouds  hang  heavy  over  us,  and 
'tis  not  very  pleasant  to  look  up,  but  we  give  you  this  belt 
to  clear  away  all  clouds,  that  we  may  all  live  in  bright 
sunshine,  and  keep  together  in  strict  union  and  friendship." 
"You  are  not  safe  from  danger  one  day.  The  French 
have  their  hatchet  in  their  hands.  We  don't  know  but 
this  very  night  they  may  attack  us.  When  you  came 
here  we  were  very  strong,  you  were  few  and  weak." 
"  We  now  are  few  and  weak."  "  We  view  you  as  a  very 
large  tree  which  has  taken  deep  root  in  the  ground,  whose 
branches  are  spread  very  wide.  We  stand  by  the  body 
of  this  tree,  and  we  look  round  to  see  if  there  be  any  to 
endeavor  to  hurt  it,  and  if  it  should  be  so,  that  any  arc 


14  THE  EEPUBLIC. 

powerful  enough  to  destroy  it,  we  are  ready  to  fall  with 
it."  * 

With  such  gifts  as  were  usual,  these  Indians  departed, 
waiting  a  summons  to  that  war  which  was  to  precipitate 
their  melancholy  destiny.  Nor  were  they  all  blind  to 
their  fate.f  The  commissioners,  having  stated  the  British 
title  to  these  colonies,  and  the  aggressions  of  the  French, 
now  considered  the  "  plan  of  UNION."  It  proposed  an  act 
of  parliament  to  constitute  a  general  government  for 
all  the  colonies — each  to  retain  its  present  constitution, 
except  a  change  might  be  directed, — to  be  administered 
by  a  President-General  appointed  by  the  crown,  and  a 
triennial  grand  council  of  deputies  to  be  chosen  by  the 
assembly  of  each  colony.  It  was  to  have  power  of  war 
or  peace  with,  and  of  purchases  from  the  Indians ;  of 
raising  soldiers  and  equipping  fleets  ;  of  laying  duties,  im- 
posts and  taxes ;  the  product  to  be  received  by  a  general 
treasurer,  and  subject  to  the  president  and  council  with  a 
proviso  that  the  laws  it  passed  should  not  be  repugnant  to 
those  of  England,  and  not  be  disapproved  by  the  king. 

This  plan  originated  with  Benjamin  Franklin,  once  a 
poor  printer's  boy,  recently  elevated  to  the  important 
office  of  postmaster-general  of  America,  who  had  just  J 
verified  the  identity  of  lightning  and  electricity,  disarming 
it  of  its  terrors,  to  which  American  genius  has  since  given 
a  quiet  voice  of  intelligence,  yet  to  circle  the  globe. 

This  first  official  plan  of  a  general  UNION  of  the  Pro- 
vinces, neither  acceptable  to  the  crown  nor  to  the  colo- 

*  Doc.  Hist,  of  K  Y.,  ii.  330. 

f  "  One  of  these  woodland  kings,  who  chalked  out  a  sketch  of  the  interioi 
forests,  rivers,  and  lakes,  with  a  clear  discernment  of  their  relations,  dropped 
the  jealous  hut  judicious  observation,  that  Louisburgh  was  one  key  of  the  in- 
land country,  and  New  York  another,  and  that  the  power  which  had  both, 
would  open  the  great  chest  and  have  Indians  and  all."— Smith,  ii.  181. 
1752. 


HAMILTON.  15 

nies,  failed  ;  and  England  commenced  a  war  with  France, 
relying  for  aid  on  the  separate  provincial  assemblies. 

Deeply  interested  as  New  York  was  in  its  result, 
liberal  in  her  supplies,  and  zealous  in  her  efforts,  still  the 
determination  of  her  people  to  maintain  their  colonial 
rights  was  unshaken.  To  secure  a  pure  unbiassed  ad- 
ministration of  justice,  by  giving  to  the  judiciary  an  inde- 
pendent tenure  of  office,  was  an  object  worthy  all  her 
exertions,  but  they  were  in  vain.  A  principle,  the  noblest 
feature  of  the  British  constitution,  was  not  to  be  extended 
to  colonists,  however  faithful  or  enlightened.  Ministerial 
influence  would  not  admit  such  a  check.  Its  earnest  ap- 
peal to  the  crown  was  not  only  rejected,  but  it  was  an- 
nounced, that  not  merely  the  tenure  of  the  office  of  chief 
justice,  but  the  amount  and  payment  of  his  salary,  would 
be  at  the  pleasure  of  the  king. 

The  treaty  of  Paris  in  seventeen  hundred  sixty-three 
terminated  this  war.  France  ceased  to  be  a  rival  on  this 
continent.  England  triumphed.  The  colonies  exulted. 
Both  were  engrossed  with  the  present  successes.  France 
alone,  looking  into  the  future,  found  consolation  for  her 
losses  in  the  assurance  that,  through  them,  the  birth  of  an 
empire  able  to  cope  with  her  late  enemy,  was  near. 

The  recent  efforts  of  the  colonies  and  the  burthens 
they  had  incurred,  ought  to  have  given  them  at  least  a 
short  respite  from  the  exactions  of  England.  But  the 
crown  reasoned,  as  crowned  heads  are  wont  to  do,  for  its 
power  and  its  prerogative  ;  and  it  found  in  mercenary 
parliaments  not  unwilling  tools.  The  power  of  the  king 
had  been  limited  by  the  revolution.  Despotism  now  took 
refuge  in  the  doctrine  of  parliamentary  supremacy. 

Hitherto  the  quarrels  of  government  had  been  with 
each  separate  colony.  They  now  assumed  the  compre- 
hensive and  more  imposing-  form  of  a  general  controversy 


16  THE   EEPUBLIC. 

with  them  all  upon  a  great,  common,  vital  principle. 
Parliament  claimed  the  right,  not  merely  of  regulating 
their  trade,  but  of  levying  in  the  colonies  internal  taxes. 

The  first  official  proposal  to  carry  into  effect  this  new 
doctrine  originated  at  a  MILITARY  CONCLAVE.  "  At  a 
COUNCIL  held  at  the  CAMP  at  ALEXANDRIA  in  Virginia  on 
the  fourteenth  of  April,  seventeen  hundred  fifty-five, 
General  Braddock,  in  pursuance  of  his  instructions,  pro- 
posed that  '  a  COMMON  FUND  '  be  established  in  the  colonies 
for  carrying  on  the  services  under  his  direction.  The 
colonial  governors  present  advised  him  of  their  unsuccess- 
ful efforts  with  the  assemblies  for  the  establishment  of 
such  a  fund ;  gave  it  as  their  opinion  that  it  can  never  be 
done  'without  the  aid  of  parliament ;'  and  unanimously 
recommended  that  it  should  be  proposed  to  his  majesty's 
ministers  to  find  out  some  method  of  COMPELLING  them  to 
do  it."  * 

While  this  suggestion  was  under  consideration,  an  act 
was  passed,  at  the  instance  of  the  British  West  Indies, 
commonly  called  the  sugar  act,  to  stop  the  illicit  and  lu- 
crative trade  of  the  American  colonies  with  the  French 
and  Spanish  plantations,  which  the  war  had  interrupted. 
The  folly  of  this  legislation  was  not  less  than  its  arbi- 
trary character.  This  traffic  was  most  beneficial,  it  being 
an  exchange  of  British  manufactures  and  of  the  surplus 
productions  of  the  British  colonies  for  gold  and  silver  in 
bullion  and  other  necessary  articles,  not  interfering  with 
any  branch  of  British  or  colonial  industry,  but  stimulating 
and  fostering  it. 

Alarmed  at  a  measure  of  such  deep,  extensive  injury, 
and  at  the  contemplated  parliamentary  taxation,  the  New 
York  assembly  first  approached  the  governor,  hoping  he 
would  join  with  them  "in  an  endeavor  to  secure  that 

*  Doc.  Hist,  of  N.  Y.,  ii.  378. 


HAMILTON.  17 

great  badge  of  English  liberty,  of  being  taxed  with  their 
own  consent."  Petitions  to  the  king  and  to  each  House  of 
Parliament  followed,  remonstrating  against  the  "  Sugar 
Act,"  setting  forth  their  restricted  commerce,  and  stating 
the  want  of  a  paper  currency,  "  though  they  had  never 
neglected  to  sink  their  emissions ; "  admitting  fully  the 
power  of  parliament  to  regulate  their  trade,  but  elo- 
quently denying  its  right  to  tax  them.  "  An  exemption 
from  the  burden  of  ungranted  and  involuntary  taxes,"  was 
their  language,  "must  be  the  grand  principle  of  every 
free  State.  Without  such  a  right  vested  in  themselves, 
exclusive  of  all  others,  there  can  be  no  liberty,  no  happi- 
ness, no  security,  not  even  the  idea  of  property.  Life 
itself  would  become  intolerable.  We  nobly  disdain  the 
thought  of  claiming  that  exemption  as  a  privilege.  We 
found  it  on  a  basis  more  honorable,  solid  and  stable.  We 
challenge  it,  and  glory  in  it  as  our  right."  This  emphatic 
declaration  of  their  colonial  rights  was  followed  by  a  de- 
risive act,  the  initiative  of  all  the  subsequent  movements 
to  express  authoritatively  the  united  sense  of  America. 
Though  precedence  in  this  procedure  has  been  claimed 
for  other  colonies,  it  belongs  to  New  York. 

A  committee  of  the  assembly  was  appointed  "  to  COR- 
RESPOND with  the  other  colonies,  or  with  committees  of 
them,"  in  relation  to  the  sugar  act ;  the  act  restricting  the 
emission  of  bills  of  credit ;  the  several  other  acts  of  par- 
liament, in  relation  to  the  trade  of  the  northern  colonies ; 
and  "  on  the  subject  of  impending  dangers  which  threaten 
the  colonies,  of  being  taxed  by  laws  to  be  passed  in  Great 
Britain."  * 

*  1764,  Oct.  18.  This  statement  is  appended  to  a  Handbill  issued  in 
1774.  See  N.  Y.  Handbills  in  tbe  New  York  Historical  Society  Library.  The 
Committees  of  Correspondence  proposed  by  James  Otis,  were  not  appointed 
until  May  31,  1765. 

VOL.  I.— 2. 


18  THE   KEPUBL1C. 

The  question  of  the  origin,  in  the  colonies,  of  commit- 
tees of  correspondence  has  been  much  debated.  The  first 
was  appointed  by  New  York  prior  to  the  passage  of  the 
stamp  act. 

Although  the  assembly  "  rejected  the  thought  of  inde- 
pendence," its  germ  had  begun  to  shoot.  The  press  of 
New  York,  cautious  as  it  had  been,  uttered  the  momen- 
tous thought,  and  gave  it  its  true  direction.  "  History,"  it 
declared,  "  does  not  furnish  an  instance  of  revolt  begun 
by  the  people  which  did  not  take  its  rise  from  oppression. 
Nothing  but  this,  sensibly  felt,  can  unite  the  several  gov- 
ernments in  such  a  design,  and  without  UNION  they  can  do 
nothing."  "The  colonies  may,  from  present  weakness, 
submit  to  the  impositions  of  ministerial  power,  but  they 
will  certainly  hate  that  power  as  tyrannical,  and,  as  soon 
as  they  are  able,  will  throw  it  ofF." 

Conscious  of  her  strength,  inflated  with  her  successes, 
which  had  not  only  given  North  America  to  her  grasp, 
but  had  laid  the  Indies  at  her  feet,  imperial  England 
would  scarcely  pause.  Unwilling  longer  to  be  withheld 
from  so  large  a  field  of  taxation,  the  petitions  of  the  colo- 
nies were  not  read — that  from  New  York  no  one  could 
be  prevailed  upon  to  offer,*  and,  on  the  twenty-second  of 
March,  seventeen  hundred  sixty-five,  the  act  was  passed 
imposing  STAMP  duties,  and  to  enforce  their  collection,  ex 
tending  the  admiralty  jurisdiction,  and  thus  dispensing 
with  the  trial  by  jury.  Odious  as  were  the  provisions  of 
this  act,  it  had  been  modified  through  the  influence  of  the 
agent  of  Connecticut  f  so  as  to  bear  less  onerously  on  the 
poor,  and  the  period  of  its  going  into  effect  was  postponed. 
Franklin  saw  clearly  its  ultimate  result.  "  Go  home,"  he 

*  Letter  of  Agent  of  New  York,  Feb.  9,  1765. 

f  Jared  Ingersoll,  who  labored  to  prevent  its  passage. — Hollistcr'a  Con- 
necticut, ii.  12G. 


HAMILTON.  19 

said  to  him,  "  and  tell  our  countrymen  to  get  children  as 
fast  as  they  can."  When  the  tidings  reached  New  York,* 
her  press  spoke  out.  "  If  the  interest  of  the  mother 
country  and  her  colonies  cannot  be  made  to  coincide,  if 
the  same  constitution  may  not  take  place  in  both,  if  the 
welfare  of  the  mother  country  necessarily  requires  a 
sacrifice  of  the  most  valuable  rights  of  the  colonies — their 
right  of  making  their  own  laws,  and  disposing  of  their 
own  property  by  representatives  of  their  own  choosing — 
if  such  is  really  the  case  between  Great  Britain  and  her 
colonies,  then  the  connection  between  them  ought  to 
cease,  and  sooner  or  later  it  must  inevitably  cease."  f 

"  These  bitter  seeds  are  sown  that  will  one  day  have 
their  growth,"  writes  a  member  of  the  New  York  assem- 
bly. "  Do  you  like  the  sound  of  a  drum  ?  "  J  "  Depressus 
surgam,"  was  the  answer  from  Connecticut,  "  may,  per- 
haps, be  a  proper  motto  for  America.  These  severities, 
instead  of  securing,  as  they  are  intended  to  do,  the  de- 
pendency of  the  colonies,  may  perhaps  fit  us  for,  and 
hasten  the  period  of  a  glorious  INDEPENDENCE  upon  every 
thing  but  the  blessing  of  Heaven,  which  will  ever  attend 
a  virtuous,  wise,  industrious  and  modest  people.  It  is  a 
shrewd  question  which  you  ask  me  in  respect  to  martial 
music.  I  will  answer  you  without  reserve.  Various 
causes  have  quenched  the  natural  ardor  of  my  mind,  yet 
the  latent  spark  might  still  be  awakened.  My  country's 
wrongs  could  rouse  me  readily  to  arms.  Now  we  ought 
to  inculcate  the  principles  of  freedom,  and  we  may  hope 
that  hereafter  a  glorious  SYSTEM  of  LIBERTY  may  arise 
and  flourish."  § 

*  The  "  terrible  "  news  reached  New  York,  8th  April,  1 765. 
f  A.  Freeman. 

\  Signed,  J.  W.,  (John  WattsX  New  York,  9th  June,  1765. 
§  Keply  Stratford,  July  5th,  1 7G5.     No  signature,  but  believed  to  be  from 
Johnson.     MSS.  letters  in  possession  ci'  author. 


20  THE   REPUBLIC. 

In  Connecticut  the  spirit  of  the  people  rose  high.  The 
"  True  Sons  of  Liberty,"  as  they  were  called,  met  the 
thirteenth  of  January  at  Wallingford  and  resolved,  that 
the  stamp  act  "  is  unconstitutional  and  intended  to  enslave 
the  true  subjects  of  America — we  will  oppose  the  same  to 
the  last  extremity — even  to  take  the  field.  We  will  meet 
on  the  third  of  February,  to  consult  what  is  best  to  be 
done,  to  defend  our  liberties  and  properties.* 

These  suggestions  soon  ripened  into  acts.  The  onward 
impulse  of  New  York  was  felt.  At  the  instance  of  JAMES 
OTIS,  warm,  intrepid,  and  sagacious,  circular  letters  were 
addressed  from  Boston  on  the  last  day  of  May  to  each 
of  the  colonies,  inviting  them  to  meet  in  a  congress  of  de- 
puties to  be  held  at  New  York  in  the  coming  October. 
The  alarm  spread  far  and  wide.  Every  colony  was  in 
commotion — every  interest  in  clamor.  "  It  is  the  first  step," 
said  the  land  owners  of  New  York,  "  a  land  tax  for  all 
America  will  be  thought  of  next."  "  We  have  a  natural 
right,"  her  merchants  exclaimed,  as  they  surveyed  her 
spacious  bay,  "  to  every  freedom  of  trade  of  the  English." 
To  the  churchman's  exhortation  of  loyalty  to  the  "  Lord's 
anointed,"  the  Presbyterian  patriot  answered,  "  The  peo- 
ple are  the  '  Lord's  anointed.*  Though  called  '  mob  ami 
rabble,'  the  people  are  the  darling  of  Providence."  f 

The  people  now  arose,  and  from  every  seaport  came 
popular  menace  or  outbreak.  The  stamps  were  scattered 
as  with  a  whirlwind — the  stamp  offices  destroyed — the 
stamp  officers  compelled  to  resign.J  The  people  of  New 

*  Connect.  Hist.  Coll.,  256. 

f  New  York  Weekly  Gazette. 

\  In  Boston,  masked  men  attacked  the  stamp  office.  In  Newport,  men 
without  disguises  destroyed  it,  and  drove  the  customs'  collector,  for  refuge,  to 
an  armed  vessel  in  the  harbor.  At  Norwich  and  New  London  the  stamps 
were  scattered  in  fragments,  the  fort  at  New  London  firing  a  saluts. 


HAMILTON.  21 

York,  now  far  in  the  lead,  denying  the  whole  legislative 
power  of  parliament  over  the  colonies,  and  vociferating 
"  Union."  * 

On  the  seventh  of  October,  seventeen  hundred  sixty- 
five,  the  first  Congress  of  the  colonies  assembled  in  that 
city,  and,  after  careful  debate,  passed  declaratory  resolu- 
tions, insisting  upon  the  right  of  trial  by  jury  as  opposed 
to  the  recently  extended  admiralty  jurisdiction,  and  on 
their  immunity  from  taxation,  except  with  the  consent  of 
their  respective  assemblies,  as  "  their  inherent  rights  and 
liberties."  A  memorial  to  the  House  of  Lords  was  also 
framed,  and  a  representation  to  the  Commons,  admitting 
their  "due  subordination"  to  parliament,  its  right  to 
legislate  in  amendments  of  the  common  law,  and  in  the 
regulation  of  trade,  but  denying  that  of  imposing  taxes. 

The  stamp  act  was  to  take  effect  on  the  first  of  Novem- 
ber, and  the  meeting  of  this  Congress  had  been  deferred 
to  the  latest  moment,  hoping  the  act  might  not  be  en- 
forced. No  such  intelligence  was  received,  and  on  the 
last  night  of  October,  doubting  the  firmness  of  the  lead- 
ing gazette,  placards  were  issued  in  New  York,  threatening 
the  printer,  in  case  its  issue  was  discontinued  for  want  of 
a  stamp,  w;th  personal  violence.  He  obeyed  the  man- 
date. 

On  the  same  day,  while  that  city  was  occupied  by 
British  troops,  and  the  guns  of  armed  vessels  were  bear- 
ing upon  it,  a  public  meeting  was  held,  and  resolutions 
were  passed  to  prevent  the  distribution  of  the  stamps, 
and  to  form  non-importation  associations.  Two  hundred 
merchants  signed  the  agreement,  and  a  committee  was 
raised  of  correspondence  with  the  other  colonies  inviting 
them  to  unite  in  this  self-denying  league.  It  was  a  noble 

*  "  Join  or  Die  "  was  the  motto  of  a  newspaper  at  this  time  first  issued  hy 
the  opposition,  entitled  "  The  Constitutional  Courant." 


22  THE   REPUBLIC. 

example  of  sacrifice  of  private  interests  to  Ihe  public 
weal. 

The  next  day,  New  York  was  in  tumult.  The  pru- 
dence of  the  city  had  spoken, — its  passion  began  to  act. 
The  sailors  left  the  shipping.  The  people  rose  in  mass 
with  SEARS  *  at  their  head,  and  not  a  stamp  was  to  be 
used  under  the  penalty  of  instant  popular  resentment. 
The  alarmed  governor  retired  to  the  fort,  and  at  night,  in 
presence  of  his  soldiers,  his  carriages  were  burned — the 
house  of  a  British  officer  sacked — the  colors  of  his  regi- 
ment borne  away.  The  governor  complied,  gave  public 
notice  that  the  stamps  would  not  be  issued,  but  being  dis- 
trusted, he  was  obliged  to  deliver  them  to  the  custody  of 
the  mayor.  Then  quiet  was  restored. 

Soon  after,  a  large  meeting  of  the  freemen  of  the  city 
called  upon  the  assembly  to  state  the  grievances  under 
which  they  labored.  Within  a  few  days  the  assembly 
met.  A  petition  to  Parliament  was  adopted,  following 
the  language  of  the  late  Congress ;  and  resolutions  were 
passed  denouncing  in  unmeasured  terms  the  obnoxious  law 
— the  extension  of  the  admiralty  jurisdiction  to  cases  for- 
eign to  it  and  triable  by  jury,  the  recent  mutiny  or  billet- 
ing act,  which  required  the  colonies  to  support  the  troops 
quartered  there,  and  the  restriction  on  their  emission  of 
paper  money.  They  also  formally  resolved  to  defer  the 
vote  of  supply  to  the  troops. 

In  England,  the  determined  attitude  of  the  colonies 
had  not  been  anticipated  by  the  government.  The  non- 
importation agreements  came  with  the  force  of  lightning 
upon  her  manufacturing  towns.  The  Commons  were  be- 
sieged with  their  petitions.  In  the  person  of  PITT,  the 
majesty  of  the  people  rose  above  majesty  itself,  and  ere 
a  year  from  its  passage  had  worn  away,  the  stamp  act 

*  Popularly  callel  "  King  Sears." 


HAMILTON.  23 

was  repealed.  This  wise  concession  was  welcomed  in 
every  form  of  gratulation  throughout  the  colonies. 

There  was  a  lull  in  the  great  storm.  The  clouds  were 
scattered,  but  it  was  only  to  gather  and  break  in  denser 
masses.  The  patriot  press  was  the  great  lever  of  Free- 
dom. In  it,  the  claim  to  tax  even  by  regulations  of  trade 
was  questioned,  and  the  language  of  the  opposition  in 
parliament  was  quoted  in  support  of  this  larger  view. 
The  assembly  of  New  York  again  met  in  the  ensuing 
summer.*  Obeying  the  popular  request,  an  equestrian 
statue  was  voted  to  the  king,  and  one  of  brass  to  the 
great,  idolized  commoner.  The  claim  of  the  obnoxious 
governor  of  reparation  for  the  injuries  of  the  mob,  was 
disregarded,  that  of  the  officer  granted.  A  requisition  to 
supply  the  troops  was  again  formally  made.  The  assem- 
bly was  not  prepared  to  meet  the  case.  They  resolved 
that  the  supply  of  troops  in  barracks  was  the  office  of  the 
crown — as  there  were  barracks,  that  "  the  application  to 
them  appears  unnecessary" — there  was  an  unexpended 
balance  of  former  appropriations,  and  part  of  this  might 
be  used  for  one  year,  excluding  some  of  the  articles  re- 
quired by  the  act.  Thus  a  formal  compliance  with  the 
requisition  was  avoided.  The  bill  was  consequently  re- 
jected by  the  crown,  and  compulsion  by  force  was  recom- 
mended by  the  governor  as  the  only  remedy. 

At  a  session  of  the  assembly  in  the  autumn,f  after  two 
prorogations,  they  were  informed  of  the  negation  of  the 
supply  bill,  and  admonished  of  their  duty.  "  I  am  or- 
dered," said  the  new  governor,  "  to  signify  to  you,  that  it 
is  the  indispensable  duty  of  the  king's  subjects  in  America, 
to  obey  the  acts  of  the  Legislature  of  Great  Britain.  The 
king  both  expects  and  requires  a  due  and  cheerful  obe- 
dience to  the  same.  I  flatter  myself  that  on  a  due  con- 

*  1766.  t  Nov.  17. 


24  THE   KEPUBLIC. 

sideration  of  this  letter,  no  difficulties  can  properly  arise, 
or  the  least  objection  be  made,  to  the  provision  for  the 
troops,  as  required  by  the  act  of  Parliament."  *  The  as- 
sembly answered,  that  they  understood  the  law  as  only 
referring  to  soldiers  when  "  on  the  march ; "  that  in  the 
previous  vote  they  had  contributed  more  than  had  been 
imposed  on  any  other  colony ;  that  they  were  willing  to 
support  his  majesty's  government  as  is  most  suitable  to 
the  circumstances  of  the  people  they  represent ;  and  said, 
"  We  cannot  consent,  with  our  duty  to  our  constituents, 
to  put  it  in  the  power  of  any  person  (whatever  confidence 
we  may  have  in  his  prudence  and  integrity,)  to  lay  such 
burthens  on  them."  This  determined  attitude  was  fol- 
lowed by  another  prorogation. 

While  the  question  had  assumed  this  grave  form,  the 
public  feeling  of  the  eastern  and  middle  colonies  was 
aroused  by  a  discussion  of  intense  interest.  As  early  as 
the  reign  of  Anne,  the  project  of  establishing  an  episco- 
pate in  America  had  been  contemplated.  It  was  supposed 
that  the  good  humor  consequent  on  the  repeal  of  the 
stamp  act  might  warrant  the  experiment,  and  a  sermon  of 
an  English  bishop,f  indicating  its  policy,  was  now  received 
in  America.  To  a  vast  population  of  Dissenters,  nothing 
could  be  more  offensive.  The  press  teemed.  The  Epis- 
copal clergy  of  New  York  banded  together  in  its  advo- 
cacy. The  gauntlet  was  taken  up.  The  dangers  and 
arrogance  of  a  prelacy  were  depicted.  An  endowed 
mitre,  with  a  dependent  and  controlled  clergy,  were  but 
the  prelude  to  an  Established  Church.  Ecclesiastical 
courts  will  follow.  Where  would  religious  freedom  next 
take  refuge  ?  No  greater  error  can  be  committed  than 
to  undervalue  the  power  of  religious  sentiment  in  this 
great  revolution.  The  rights  of  dissent  were  at  its  foun- 

*  Holt's  Journal,  1247.  -j-  Bishop  of  Landafll 


HAMILTON.  25 

dation.  And  thus  it  was,  that  in  this  discussion,  an  acri- 
mony much  sharper  than  all  the  aggressions  of  the  crown 
had  caused,  was  shown ;  and,  ere  its  close,  that  the  first 
open  declaration  and  prophecy  of  a  near  INDEPENDENCE 
was  uttered. 

"  Courage,  Americans,"  said  the  American  Whig, 
"  liberty,  religion,  and  sciences  are  on  the  wing  to  these 
shores.  The  finger  of  God  points  out  a  mighty  empire  to 
your  sons.  The  savages  of  the  wilderness  were  never 
expelled  to  make  room  for  IDOLATERS  and  SLAVES.  The 
land  we  possess  is  the  gift  of  Heaven  to  our  fathers,  and 
Divine  Providence  seems  to  have  decreed  it  to  our  latest 
posterity.  The  day  dawns,  in  which  the  foundation  of 
this  mighty  empire  is  to  be  laid,  by  the  establishment  of 
a  regular  AMERICAN  CONSTITUTION.  All  that  has  hitherto 
been  done  seems  to  be  little  beside  the  collection  of  ma- 
terials for  this  glorious  fabric.  'Tis  time  to  put  them 
together.  The  transfer  of  the  European  family  is  so 
vast,  and  our  growth  so  swift,  that  before  seven  years  roll 
over  our  heads,  the  first  stone  must  be  laid."  * 

Ere  this  prophecy  was  made  public,  England  had 
taken  the  decisive  step.  In  these  her  palmy  days  of 
power,  never  was  more  obvious  the  weakness  of  her  fore- 
sight. 

The  great  "  guerdon  "  of  the  late  war  she  thought  was 
near,  not  seeing  that  •"  the  thin  spun  life  "  of  her  colonial 
empire  was  soon  to  end.  Townshend,  the  premier,  as 
"  a  blind  fury  "  applied  "  the  shears."  f 

New  York  was  in  a  state  of  rebellion.  Her  depend- 
ence must  be  secured.  The  majesty  and  authority  of 

*  American  Whig,  No.  V.,  April  11,1768;  begun  March  14,  1768,  in 
N.  Y.  Weekly  Gazette.  These  essays  were  by  William  Livingston,  after- 
wards Governor  of  New  Jersey. — Life  by  Theodore  Sedgwick,  145. 

f  Milton. 


20  THE    KEPUBLIC. 

the  government  must  be  maintained.  At  his  strong  in- 
stance, a  bill  was  passed,  in  May,  sixty-seven,  imposing 
duties,  in  America,  on  glass,  red  and  white  lead,  painters' 
colors  and  paper,  and  three-pence  a  pound  on  tea.  Thus 
the  colonist  was  to  behold  in  the  light  that  penetrated  his 
abode,  in  every  color  that  reached  his  eye,  in  every  page 
that  recorded  his  thoughts,  at  his  favored  social  meal, 
the  outstretched  hand  of  a  master.  The  preamble  of  the 
bill  declared  its  object — to  raise  a  revenue  in  America. 
An  act  followed,  establishing  at  Boston  a  Board  of  Com- 
missioners of  Customs,  with  powers,  similar  to  those  in 
England,  of  search  and  seizure,  to  be  paid,  out  of  the 
revenue  thus  collected,  stipends  at  the  pleasure  of  the 
king.  A  third  act  SUSPENDED  the  functions  of  the  New 
York  assembly  until  they  should  submit  to  the  require- 
ments of  the  mutiny  act. 

Massachusetts,  a  year  before,  had  granted  her  usual 
supply  to  the  troops.*  New  York,  under  the  ban,  gave 
way.f 

The  "  Sons  of  Liberty  "  had  dissolved  their  association. 
But  her  PRESS  was  not  silent.  The  great  principle  of  tax- 
ation and  representation  was  argued ;  and,  in  aid,  a  light 
broke  forth  from  Pennsylvania,  as  bright  as  it  was  un- 
expected. "The  Farmer's  Letters,"  first  printed  thcro, 
were  reprinted  widely ;  and  Boston,  in  a  town  meeting, 
gave  the  author  J  a  vote  of  thanks.  The  first  number  was 
devoted  to  an  exposure  of  the  tyranny  towards  New  York. 
The  act  restraining  her  legislation  was  pronounced  a 
parliamentary  assertion  of  the  supreme  authority  of  the 
British  Legislature  over  the  colonies  in  the  matter  of  tax- 
ation. Had  England  meant  less,  the  crown,  by  its  pre- 

*  February,  1767.  f  February,  1768. 

\  To  John  Dickinson,  March  24.  1 768.  A  reply,  in  part,  was  published  iu 
London  by  Lord  Granville. 


HAMILTON.  07 

rogative,  could  have  restrained  the  governor  from  con- 
vening the  assembly.  In  the  after  letters,  her  right  to 
raise  a  revenue  from  them  in  any  form  was  denied ;  but 
that  of  regulating  their  trade  acknowledged.  A  resort 
to  force  was  hypothetically  indicated. 

Amid  all  the  excitement  of  these  discussions,  the  New 
York  assembly,  having  been  dissolved,  a  new  election  was 
held,  and  an  assembly  was  returned  not  less  zealous  than 
that  which  they  succeeded.  The  merchants  of  New 
York  now  met  again,  and  relying  on  their  previous  suc- 
cess, entered  into  a  non-importation  agreement,  which  a 
few  months  after  was  renewed.  At  the  same  moment, 
Massachusetts  having  already  remonstrated  and  petitioned, 
as  did  Virginia  and  South  Carolina,  Boston  invited  a  con- 
vention of  the  towns,  and  passed  a  vote  that  each  man 
provide  himself  with  arms  and  ammunition.  For  the 
commissioners  of  customs  had  left  Boston  in  a  fright,  and 
a  guard  of  soldiers  was  stationed,  and  cannon  were 
pointed  toward  the  usual  place  of  legislation. 

In  the  last  month  of  this  year,  the  new  assembly  of 
New  York,  with  all  these  scenes  before  it,  evinced  a  spirit 
worthy  the  occasion.  They  asserted  the  right  of  petition 
as  equally  belonging  to  their  body  as  to  the  House  of 
Commons ;  that  the  colony  lawfully  and  constitutionally 
has  and  enjoys  an  "  internal  legislature  of  its  own,  in 
which  the  crown  and  people  of  the  colony  are  constitu- 
tionally represented ;  and  that  the  power  and  authority 
of  legislation  cannot  lawfully  or  constitutionally  be  sus- 
pended, abridged,  abrogated,  or  annulled  by  any  power, 
authority  or  prerogative  whatever."  They  averred  their 
right  to  correspond  and  consult  with  other  subjects  out  of 
the  colony,  or  in  other  parts  of  the  realm,  either  individually 
or  collectively,  on  any  matter  wherein  their  rights  or  in- 
terests, or  those  of  their  constituents  are  or  may  be  af- 


23  THE   REPUBLIC. 

fected  ;  and  they  appointed  a  committee  of  correspondence 
to  report  its  transactions  to  subsequent  meetings  of  the 
House.  Petitions  were  also  preferred  to  the  king,  to  the 
Lords  and  to  the  Commons,  pronouncing  the  late  acts  im- 
posing duties,  "  with  the  sole  view  and  express  purpose 
of  raising  a  revenue,  utterly  subversive  of  their  constitu- 
tional rights,  because  as  they  neither  are,  nor,  from  their 
peculiar  circumstances,  can  be  represented  in  parliament, 
their  property  is  granted  away  without  their  consent." 
Next,  they  remonstrated  against  the  act  suspending  their 
functions. 

The  governor  pronounced  their  resolutions  "  flatly  re- 
pugnant to  the  laws  of  Great  Britain ; "  and  punished 
them  by  a  dissolution.*  The  recent  declaration  of  the 
British  prime  minister,  "  I  will  never  think  of  repealing 
the  late  act  of  Parliament  securing  to  us  a  revenue,  until 
t  see  America  prostrate  at  my  feet ; "  and  the  recent  in- 
crease of  troops  ordered  to  Boston,  assured  him  his  con- 
duct would  be  approved. 

A  new  election  was  now  held.  In  the  city  a  leading 
handbill  was  issued,  protesting,  that  not  a  sufficient  num- 
ber of  "dissenters"  was  included  in  the  representation, 
but  the  churchmen  prevailed. 

On  the  fourth  of  April  the  new  assembly  met.  The 
governor  urged  in  a  special  message,  that  the  old  mode  of 
appointing  an  agent  to  Great  Britain  by  the  governor, 
council  and  assembly,  be  restored. 

The  assembly,  in  order  to  have  the  influence  of  public 
opinion,  the  debates  being  with  closed  doors,  resolved 
that  their  votes  and  proceedings  be  printed  and  made 
public.  And  on  the  first  day  of  the  session  they  appointed 
a  grand  committee  of  grievances — a  grand  committee  on 
courts  of  justice — a  grand  committee  on  trade. 

"January  2,  1769. 


HAMILTON.  29 

Four  days  after,  Philip  Schuyler,  whose  bold,  deter- 
mined spirit  had  been  infused  into  the  previous  assembly, 
moved,  "  as  their  repeated  resolves  and  applications  had 
not  been  attended  with  success,"  and  with  a  view  "  to  re- 
store lasting  harmony,"  that  a  day  be  fixed  to  take  into 
consideration  the  state  of  the  colony  ;  and  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  special  agents.  He  then  reported  an  address, 
insisting  upon  the  appointment  of  agents  by  the  assembly 
alone ;  stated  "  that  the  sums  granted  for  the  support  of 
the  troops  were  very  considerable,  and  that  the  governor's 
requisition  demands  the  most  serious  consideration  ,• "  la- 
mented the  decay  of  trade,  and  urged  the  emission  of  a 
paper  currency. 

To  check  the  executive  influence,  he  also  moved,  that 
no  person  "  holding  any  office  of  honor,  trust  or  profit," 
should  sit  as  a  member  of  that  body.  Resolutions  were 
next  passed,  asserting  the  sole  right  of  imposing  taxes, 
that  of  petition,  of  trial  by  jury,  and  that  the  sending  of 
persons  for  trial  to  places  beyond  the  sea  was  "  highly  de- 
rogatory to  the  rights  of  British  subjects."  The  indocile 
temper  of  the  assembly  indicating  to  the  governor  that  a 
longer  session  would  only  the  more  exhibit  his  weakness, 
he  forthwith  prorogued  it  for  a  few  weeks,*  which  proro- 
gation was  extended,  and  it  did  not  again  meet  until  late 
in  the  autumn. 

Thus  far,  the  experiment  of  coercion  had  been  unsuc- 
cessful. The  cabinet  of  England  felt  the  pressure  of  pub- 
lic opinion  and  were  considering  a  retreat.  To  soothe  the 
colonies,  a  circular  was  sent  forth  giving  promise  of  a 
change  of  policy. 

Meantime  Virginia  responded  to  the  resolutions  of 
New  York  in  like  emphatic  terms,  and  Massachusetts  ap- 
proved, remonstrating  pointedly  against  the  presence  of 

*  Mav20.  1769. 


30  THE   REPUBLIC. 

an  armed  force  within  her  borders,  and  avowing  her  de- 
termination never  to  make  provision  for  the  troops. 

The  merchants  of  New  York,  seeing  in  these  proceed- 
ings little  promise  of  beneficial  results,  now  determined 
to  appeal  more  strongly  to  the  interests  of  England. 
They  passed  resolutions  that  the  non-importation  agree- 
ments, then  only  referring  to  the  glass  and  tea  bill,  should 
endure  until  ALL  the  obnoxious  revenue  laws  were  re- 
pealed. In  this  Boston  for  a  time  concurred,  but  Phila- 
delphia, taking  a  less  enlarged  view,  adhered  to  the  terms 
of  the  original  stipulation. 

The  assembly  of  New  York  again  met  in  November.* 
The  governor  intimated  the  probability  of  a  repeal  of  the 
revenue  acts,  and  a  bill  was  introduced  for  the  issue  of 
bills  of  credit  to  be  loaned  for  a  term  of  years,  the  pro- 
ceeds to  be  applied  to  discharge  the  debts  and  to  meet  the 
exigencies  of  the  colony. 

The  motives  to  it  were  the  great  scarcity  of  specie, 
caused  by  the  interdiction  of  traffic  with  the  foreign 
West  Indies,  and  the  total  absence  of  a  paper  currency, 
reducing  values,  preventing  remittances  to  England,  and 
obstructing  a  provision  for  the  public  service.  The  bill 
passed  and  received  the  sanction  of  Golden,  the  lieuten- 
ant-governor. 

It  was  not  acceptable  to  the  British  ministry  until 
Golden  explained  it.  These  bills,  he  informed  them,  were 
not  made  a  legal  tender  except  at  the  treasury  and  at  the 
loan  offices.  "  It  is  a  consideration  of  some  importance 
to  the  government,  that,  as  the  interest  money  cannot  be 
applied  without  the  consent  of  the  governor,  the  supply 
for  the  troops  quartered  in  this  place,  may  for  the  future 
be  secured,  which  has  at  all  times  met  with  opposition  in 
the  assembly,  and  has  been  with  difficulty  obtained."  f 

*  1769.  f  Golden  to  Hillsborough,  February  21,  1770. 


HAMILTON.  31 

Thus  enlightened  on  the  policy  of  the  measure,  par- 
liament passed  an  act  sanctioning  the  emission.  The 
ministry  were  also  informed  that  the  recent  act  declaring 
the  judges  and  other  officers  of  government  ineligible  to 
the  assembly,  had  been  so  amended  as  to  confine  the  ex- 
clusion to  the  judges,  which  had  been  repeatedly  urged. 

Another  measure  was  taken  at  this  time  of  general  in- 
terest. In  his  speech  to  the  assembly,  stating  that  his 
majesty  had  been  pleased  to  direct  that  the  regulation  of 
the  trade  with  the  Indian  nations  would  be  in  future  left 
to  the  colonies ;  Golden  urged  that  the  consideration  of 
this  subject  be  resumed. 

The  assembly  promised  so  to  do,  and  "  to  frame  such 
laws  as  will  answer  his  majesty's  most  gracious  intention," 
confirm  the  friendship  and  secure  the  affections  of  the  In- 
dian nations.  Soon  after  a  resolution  was  adopted  that 
the  Legislature  cannot  pass  a  law  that  will  fully  answer, 
without  the  harmonious  co-operation  of  the  other  colo- 
nies ;  that  the  most  proper  step  is  to  appoint  commissioners 
to  meet  others  who  may  be  appointed  by  the  neighboring 
colonies,  to  fix  on  a  general  plan  for  the  regulation  of  the 
Indian  trade ;  "  that  laws  may  afterwards  be  passed  con- 
formable thereto."  In  this  view,  an  act  passed  appoint- 
ing commissioners  of  conference.  Pennsylvania,  Virginia, 
and  Quebec,  appointed  like  commissioners.  "  I  now  sus- 
pect," Golden  wrote,  "  the  commissioners  will  not  meet,  or 
not  agree  upon  any  one  plan,  by  reason  of  the  different 
interests  of  the  different  colonies."  *  They  never  met. 

This  subject  was  not  resumed  ;  fast  growing  exigen- 
cies pointing  the  attention  of  the  colonies  to  larger  objects. 
Though  engrossed  by  these,  the  prominence  of  this  inter- 
est in  the  public  mind,  now  sunk  into  insignificance,  was 
markedly  shown  at  a  subsequent  period. 

*  July  7,  1770. 


32  THE    REPUBLIC. 

This  procedure  has  been  interpreted  into  a  measure 
for  the  establishment  of  an  union  of  the  colonies.  The 
statement  is  not  sustained  by  the  records. 

Soothed  by  the  permission  to  emit  paper  money,  for 
without  it  the  affairs  of  New  York  were  at  a  stand,  the 
assembly  was  asked  to  vote  a  supply  to  the  troops.  The 
conflict  of  opinion  was  high.  Some  in  despite  of  the  sus- 
pending act  advocated  an  absolute  refusal — others  were 
for  a  middle  course — to  vote  the  supply  without  recog- 
nizing the  obligation.  The  chief  justice  and  several  of 
the  council,  dependents  of  the  crown,  came  into  the 
House,  and  after  much  entreaty,  by  a  majority  of  two 
votes,  a  small  aid  was  granted  without  any  preamble  to 
the  bill,  or  the  least  reference  in  terms  to  the  mutiny  or 
suspending  acts.  Yet  this  body  had  formally  approved  the 
resolutions  of  Virginia,  and  had  voted  thanks  to  the 
merchants  for  their  adherence  to  the  non-importation 
pact. 

An  appeal  was  now  openly  made  from  the  assembly 
to  the  people.  Two  days  after  this  vote,*  an  address, 
over  the  signature  of  "  A  Son  of  Liberty  to  the  Betrayed 
Inhabitants  of  the  City  of  New  York,"  appeared.  It 
stigmatized  the  grant  to  the  troops  as  an  admission  of  the 
authority  that  enacted  the  revenue  laws.  In  this  point  of 
view,  Massachusetts  and  South  Carolina  had  condemned 
them.  Was  this  a  grateful  return  to  the  former  for  their 
sympathy  as  to  the  suspending  act  ?  No.  It  is  betraying 
the  common  cause  of  liberty.  Can  there  be  a  greater 
farce  to  impose  on  the  people  than  to  vote  thanks  to  the 
merchants  for  their  non-importation  agreement,  and  at  the 
same  time  to  "  counteract  it  by  countenancing  British  acts, 
and  complying  with  ministerial  requisitions  incompatible 
with  our  freedom  ?  "  What  is  more  grievous,  this  grant 

*  December  17,  17C9. 


HAMILTON.  3?, 

is  "  to  support  troops  kept  here,  not  to  protect,  but  to  en 
slave  us.  The  assembly  is  flattered  with  the  success  of 
a  bill  to  emit  paper  money  when  it  is  known  only  to  be  a 
snare,  for  it  will  not  obtain  the  royal  assent."  The  ad- 
dress then  charged  a  political  coalition,  and  advised  a 
meeting  in  the  fields,  that  they  should  go  thence  in  a  body 
to  their  representatives  and  insist  upon  their  joining  the 
minority.  If  they  refuse,  send  the  tidings  to  every  as- 
sembly on  the  continent,  and  publish  them  to  the  world. 

This  bold  rebuke  was  presented  to  the  assembly  by 
the  speaker,  and  a  resolution  was  passed  declaring  it  "  an 
infamous  and  seditious  libel."  In  a  vote  of  a  full  house 
Philip  Schuyler  stood  alone  in  the  negative  *  The  next 
day,  at  his  instance,  EDMUND  BURKE  was  appointed  the 
agent  of  New  York ;  and  a  motion  made  by  him,  that  all 
elections  of  representatives  in  the  assembly  should  be  by 
ballot,  was  carried.  This  was  but  a  momentary  triumph. 
The  ultra  royalists  rallied,  and,  though  a  public  meeting  f 
urged  "  the  inestimable  privilege,"  the  measure  was  finally 
defeated. 

With  a  pliant  majority  in  an  assembly  elected  for 
seven  years,  the  ministerial  party  felt  secure  of  their  as- 
cendency, and  boasted  their  strength. 

The  rabble,  as  the  active  patriots  were  called,  were 
now  openly  derided  ;  and  the  soldiery,  justly  regarding  as 
a  triumph  the  recent  vote  for  their  support,  and  galled  by 
the  recollection  of  their  past  humiliation,  gave  vent  to 
their  feelings.  "  The  Liberty  Pole  shall  DOWN,"  was  the 
cry  of  the  soldiers. 

Under  cover  of  night  a  party  of  them  attempted  to 
blow  it  up.  A  few  citizens  interfering,  the  soldiers,  aban- 
doning their  purpose  for  the  present,  assailed  them  and 
were  resisted.  Attempts  on  the  pole  were  repeated,  and 

*  20  to  1.  \  The  leaders  were  Sears,  McDongall,  Lamb. 

VOL.  I.— 3 


34r  THE   REPUBLIC. 

at  last,  though  sentinels  of  the  citizens  had  been  stationed 
around  it,  succeeded. 

A  public  meeting  was  immediately  called  by  the  Sons 
of  Liberty,  "  Soldiers  found  at  night  with  arms,  or  out  of 
their  baracks,"  were  denounced  as  "  enemies  to  the  peo- 
ple," and  a  solemn  engagement  was  formed  to  bring  the 
first  offender  to  justice. 

The  sailors  now  rushed  from  the  wharves  and  from 
the  ships.  Successive  affrays  took  place,  until,  after  a 
fight  on  "Golden  Hill,"  a  tardy  order  from  the  mayor 
brought  the  troops  to  obedience.  "  The  Liberty  Pole  shall 
STAND,"  was  the  cry  of  the  triumphant  people.  To  quiet 
them,  a  right  of  property  in  it  with  a  plot  of  ground  was 
bought,  and,  after  being  drawn  in  procession,  decorated 
with  flags  and  ribbons,  a  tall  mast  was  raised  amid  cheers 
and  shouts,  cased  with  iron  and  surmounted  by  a  vane, 
with  the  words  inscribed  in  bold  characters — "Liberty 
and  Property." 

"  The  persons  engaged  in  these  riots,"  Golden  writes 
to  the  ministry,  "  consist  chiefly  of  Dissenters,  who  are 
very  numerous,  especially  in  the  country,  and  have  a 
great  influence  on  the  country  members  of  assembly. 
The  most  active  among  them  are  Independents  from  New 
England  or  educated  there,  and  of  republican  principles." 

The  excitement  of  the  people  was  not  permitted  to 
subside.  The  recent  vote  of  the  assembly  as  to  the  al- 
leged "  libel "  was  believed  to  warrant  an  attempt  to  in- 
timidate the  press,  and  a  proclamation  was  issued  for  the 
discovery  of  the  author.  Captain  Alexander  McDougall, 
to  whom  it  was  traced,  was  arrested,  and  refusing  to  give 
bail,  was  committed  to  prison.  Upon  his  arrest  he  ex- 
claimed, "  I  rejoice  that  I  am  the  first  to  suffer  for  liberty 
since  the  commencement  of  our  glorious  struggles." 

This  native  of  the  lone  Hebrides,  who,  with  the  perse- 


HAMILTON.  35 

verance  of  a  Scot,  had,  as  a  sailor,  made  his  way  to  for- 
tune, nursing,  in  his  life  of  perils  on  the  ocean,  the  faith 
and  education  of  his  far  home,  was  not  to  be  dismayed 
From  "the  new  jail,"  again  and  again  he  addressed  the 
people  through  the  press,  sustaining  his  charges  and  vindi- 
cating his  opposition.  When  oppression  becomes  person- 
ified it  loses  half  its  dangers.  Public  sympathy  is  then 
awakened,  directed,  concentrated.  The  imprisoned  sailor 
was  deemed  the  true  type  of  an  imprisoned  commerce. 

To  soften  the  rigors  of  his  confinement,  to  evince  a 
detestation  of  its  authors,  and  in  his  person  to  plead  the 
public  wrongs,  became  a  duty  of  patriotism.  On  the  an- 
niversary of  the  repeal  of  the  stamp  act,  his  health  was 
drank  with  honors,  and  the  meeting,  in  procession,  visited 
him  in  his  prison.  Ladies  of  distinction  daily  thronged 
there.  Popular  songs  were  written  and  sung  under  his 
prison  bars,  and  emblematic  swords  were  worn.  His 
name  was  upon  every  lip.  The  character  of  each  individ- 
ual conspicuous  in  the  great  controversy  became  a  subject 
of  comment,  and  the  applause  which  followed  the  name 
of  Schuyler,  gave  a  new  value  to  the  popularity  his  firm- 
ness had  acquired. 

McDougall  was  one  of  the  people,  and  at  a  time  when 
aristocratic  feelings  were  prevalent,  the  importance  at- 
tached to  an  individual  of  obscure  birth,  elevated  the 
commonalty  above  artificial  distinctions,  and  commended 
to  the  aspiring  spirits  of  the  day  the  lesson  of  resistance. 

The  servile  instruments  of  the  government  added  new 
causes  of  dissatisfaction.  After  an  imprisonment  of 
three  months  a  grand-jury  was  packed,  composed  of  the 
dependents  of  the  governor.  De  Lancey,  the  leader  of 
the  loyalists  who  had  been  denounced  in  the  address,  and 
De  Noyelles,  another  member  of  the  House  who  had 
moved  his  arrest,  took  their  seats  with  the  court,  and 


36  THE   REPUBLIC. 

yielding  to  this  influence,  an  indictment  was  found  against 
him. 

This  persecution,  the  more  odious  because  under  the 
form  of  law,  produced  its  natural  effects.  The  intelli- 
gence of  these  occurrences  the  more  quickened  the  pulse 
of  Boston.  The  affrays  with  the  soldiers  here  taught 
them  what  to  fear,  the  courage  of  McDougall  what  to 
dare. 

Ere  the  murmurs  and  applauses  of  its  townsfolk  at  the 
events  in  New  York  had  ceased,  Boston  became  a  scene 
of  blood.  The  people  would  no  longer  brook  the  insults 
of  the  soldiers.  Defiances  were  given.  Sneers  arid 
taunts  provoked  to  blows.  The  soldiers  discharged  their 
pieces  among  a  crowd  in  a  public  street.  Several  towns- 
men were  wounded,  a  few  killed.  The  bells  rang.  The 
old  Boston  drums  beat  the  alarm.  "  The  troops  must  to 
their  barracks,"  was  the  universal  cry.  A  town  meeting 
was  called.  In  flocked  their  neighbors — Samuel  Adams, 
a  humble  but  educated  man,  now  their  fearless  leader, 
confronted  the  royal  governor.  The  departure  of  the 
troops  was  demanded,  insisted  upon,  compelled.  They 
retired  from  the  town.  The  "  Boston  massacre,"  *  was  in 
the  ear  of  every  colonist  far  and  near. 

Though  the  question  of  British  monarchy  in  America 
was  now  solved,  no  solution  of  it  yet  appeared.      Ad- 
dresses, petitions,  remonstrances — all  had  failed  ;  and  the 
only  effective,  peaceful  resistance  was  about  to  be  relin 
quished. 

The  merchants  of  New  York  had  to  this  hour  re- 
mained true  to  their  engagements,  although  their  ware- 
houses were  empty  and  their  harbor  deserted.  It  would 
seem  as  though  they  had  seen  in  the  future  the  buoyant 
glories  of  this  metropolis,  and  felt  that  theirs  was  a  mis- 

*  March  5,  1770. 


HAMILTON.  37 

sion  of  free  trade  to  the  whole  world.  But  while  they 
were  faithful  to  the  great  sacrifice,  elsewhere  it  was  dis- 
regarded. Their  isolated  constancy  was  unavailing,  and 
they  proposed  the  importation  of  every  dutied  article  ex- 
cept tea ;  thus,  by  this  reservation,  to  save  the  principle. 
The  towns  which  latest  had  adopted  the  non-importation 
agreement  and  first  had  violated  it,  rejected  the  proposal. 
The  Sons  of  Liberty  in  New  York  uttered  threats  towards 
the  merchants,  but  the  impoverished  city  could  no  longer 
hold  out.  Orders  were  given  for  full  cargoes  of  all  they 
wanted  except  teas  ;  and  the  voluntary  resistance  seemed 
at  an  end.  Philadelphia  and  Boston  soon  followed  the 
example. 

This  was  the  time  for  conciliation.  But  to  the  king, 
who  felt  not,  amid  his  royalties,  the  advancing  spirit  of 
the  age,  resistance  to  oppression  was  an  enigma  only  to  be 
solved  by  the  sword,  and  thus  the  solution  was  to  come. 
At  the  moment  when  the  relinquishment  of  the  commer- 
cial opposition  was  known  at  St.  James,  an  order  appeared 
making  Boston  the  rendezvous  of  the  armed  vessels  sta- 
tioned in  North  America,  and  directing  its  fortress,  Castle 
William,  to  be  occupied  by  the  king's  troops. 

Massachusetts  was  not  yet  prepared  to  meet  this  breach 
of  her  charter  and  insulting  parade  of  power. 

On  the  eleventh  of  December,*  the  New  York  as- 
sembly was  again  convened,  Lord  Dunmore  having  opened 
the  new  seals  as  governor.  Two  days  after,  upon  a  war- 
rant of  the  speaker,  McDougall  appeared  at  the  bar  of 
the  House.  Being  asked  if  he  was  the  author  of  the  "  li- 
bellous "  address,  he  answered,  that  he  had  been  arrested, 
indicted,  and  held  to  bail,  under  the  order  of  the  assembly, 
and  his  trial  had  been  delayed.  "  Who  were  his  accus- 
ers ?  "  De  Noyelles  demanded  a  categorical  reply  to  the 

*  1770. 

88027 


38  THE    REPUBLIC. 

question.  Attempting  to  state  his  position,  McDougall 
was  threatened  to  be  committed  for  contempt.  George 
Clinton  interposed.  McDougall  waived  an  answer,  for 
the  reason  that,  being  under  trial  for  the  imputed  offence, 
there  was  no  precedent  for  the  procedure  of  the  House. 
The  loyal  member  again  demanded  an  answer,  threatening 
him  with  the  infliction  of  "  peine  forte  et  dure."  Clinton 
again  interposed,  but  in  vain.  McDougall  was  required 
to  ask  pardon.  His  spirit  was  too  firm  to  be  intimidated 
by  this  brutal  threat.  The  stout  patriot  answered : 
"  Rather  than  resign  the  rights  and  privileges  of  a  British 
subject,  I  would  suffer  my  right  hand  to  be  cut  off  at  the 
bar  of  the  House.  I  will  not  ask  pardon,  for  I  have  not 
committed  any  crime."  He  was  remanded  to  the  jail, 
whence  he  again  set  forth  his  wrongs  to  the  people.  A 
writ  of  habeas  corpus  was  granted.  The  House  directed 
the  judges  to  take  notice  that  he  was  imprisoned  under 
their  warrant,  and  that  the  sheriff  must  detain  him. 
Warm  debates  arose.  No  record  of  the  decision  remains, 
but  ere  long  McDougall  was  at  large. 

All  was  now  quiet  in  this  province.  But  to  insure,  if 
necessary,  an  unquestioning  obedience,  Dunmore  *  with 
loaded  pockets  was  transferred  to  Virginia,  and  Tryon 
with  loaded  arms,  and  laurels  still  bloody,  won  in  unequal 
battle  with  his  fellow-subjects  in  North  Carolina,  was  re- 
ceived by  the  now  abject  councils  of  New  York  with 
welcome  greetings.  In  January  seventy-two,  its  assem- 
bly again  met,  and  the  emission  bill  having  been  approved 
by  the  crown,  again  voted  a  supply  to  the  troops. 

The  colony  felt  that  England  had  placed  it  in  charge 
of  an  unscrupulous,  heartless  tyrant,  and  trembled  before 
his  presence. 

No  public  voice  of  reprobation  was  any  longer  heard. 

*  July,  1771. 


HAMILTON.  39 

In  the  dark,  discontented  looks  of  the  people  there  was  a 
boding ;  but  it  is  a  significant  fact,  that  from  the  time  of 
McDougall's  liberation,  excepting  as  to  a  renewed  propo- 
sal of  an  American  episcopate,  the  press  of  this  colony 
was  silent. 

It  was  during  this  sullen  calm,  that  Hamilton,  a  youth, 
departing  from  the  West  Indies,  arrived  on  the  shore  of 
this  great  continent,  at  the  very  moment,  pictured  as  the 
future  "  asylum  of  freedom."  * 

*  "The  Western  World,"  Burke  wrote,  "was  the  seat  of  freedom  until  an- 
other more  western  was  discovered,  and  that  other  will  probably  be  its  asylum 
when  it  is  limited  down  in  every  other  part.  Happy  is  it  that  the  worst  of 
times  may  have  one  refuge  still  left  for  humanity !  " — Annual  Register,  1772. 


CHAPTER    IT. 

NEVIS,  one  of  a  cluster  of  the  Antilles,  was  his  birthplace. 
This  small  island,  which  rises  like  a  cone  from  the  ocean 
to  a  great  height,  is  supposed  to  have  been  so  called  by 
Columbus,  from  its  resemblance  in  form  and  its  volcanic 
discharges  to  an  elevation  in  Spain,  known  as  the  mountain 
of  "  Snows."  Watered  with  salubrious  springs  and  rivu- 
lets from  its  base  to  its  summit,  it  presents  in  its  successive 
acclivities  the  luxuriance  of  the  tropics  and  the  growths 
of  the  temperate  zone.  First  occupied  by  the  English,  the 
little  colony  never  passed  from  their  sway,  and,  owing  to  the 
paternal  cares  of  its  earliest  governor,  was  a  model  of 
virtue,  order  and  piety.*  This  beautiful  spot  was  the  quiet 
abode  of  Hamilton's  infancy. 

His  father  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  who  looked  back 
upon  his  ancestry  with  pride,  tracing  his  lineage  in  a 
direct  line  to  Bernard,  a  near  kinsman  of  Hollo,  the 
first  duke  of  Normandy,  and  progenitor  of  William  the 
Conqueror.  Of  the  proud  and  warlike  family  of  Hamil- 
ton, conspicuous  throughout  the  history  of  Scotland  and 
England,  he  was  of  the  CAMBUSKEITH  branch,  the  head 

*  History  of  West  Indies,  by  Thomas  Coke,  LL.  D.  HistoSre  Philosophique 
ct  Politique  des  etablisemens  et  du  commerce  des  Europeans  dans  les  deux 
Indes. — Par  Raynat,  vii.  376. 


HAMILTON.  41 

of  which  was  Walter,  son  of  the  first  Sir  David  de  Hamil- 
ton, Lord  of  Cadyow.* 

His  grandfather,  Alexander  Hamilton  of  Grange,  the 
fourteenth  in  descent,  married,  about  seventeen  hundred 
and  thirty,  Elizabeth,  eldest  daughter  of  Sir  Robert 
Pollock,  and  had  a  numerous  issue,  of  whom  James, 
his  fourth  son,  was  the  father  of  the  American  Ham- 
ilton. 

With  a  just  value  of  the  advantages  of  birth,  and  a 
proper  disregard  of  family  pretensions,  he  wrote  to  a  near 
friend,  "  Thus  my  blood  is  as  good  as  that  of  those  who 
plume  themselves  upon  their  ancestry." 

His  father  being  bred  a  merchant,  and  the  West  Indies 
opening  a  field  to  enterprise,  he  left  Scotland  for  St. 
Christopher's,  where,  though  at  first  successful,  through  a 
too  generous,  easy  temper,  he  failed  in  business,  and  was, 
during  the  greater  part  of  his  life,  in  reduced  circum- 
stances. 

On  his  mother's  side,  Hamilton's  descent  was  French. 
His  maternal  grandfather,  whose  name  was  Faucette,  was 
a  Huguenot,  a  race  to  which  America  owes  many  of  her 
most  illustrious  sons,  who,  in  different  climes,  proved  how 
warmly  they  had  cherished  the  virtuous  and  determined 
spirit  of  their  exiled  forefathers. 

In  the  general  expatriation  of  his  Protestant  country- 
men which  followed  the  revpcation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes, 
he  settled  in  Nevis,  where  he  practised  medicine.  He 
was  a  man  of  letters  and  polished  manners. 

Hamilton  was  the  offspring  of  a  second  marriage. 
His  mother's  first  husband  was  a  Dane,  named  Lavine, 
who,  attracted  by  her  beauty,  and  recommended  to  her 

*  "  Historical  and  Genealogical  Memoirs  of  the  House  of  Hamilton,  with 
Genealogical  Memoirs  of  the  Several  Branches  of  the  Family  ; "  by  John  An- 
derson. Edinburgh,  1825.  Appendix  A.  Geneology. 


42  THE   REPUBLIC. 

mother  by  his  wealth,  received  her  hand  against  her  incli- 
nation. 

The  marriage  proving  unhappy,  she  obtained  a  divorce, 
and  subsequently  married  the  father  of  Alexander,  to 
whom  she  gave  birth  on  the  eleventh  of  January,  seven- 
teen hundred  and  fifty-seven. 

His  mother  died  during  his  childhood,  a  woman  of  su- 
perior intellect,  elevated  sentiment,  and  unusual  grace  of 
person  and  manner.  To  her  he  was  indebted  for  his 
genius. 

After  her  decease,  the  misfortunes  of  her  husband 
threw  their  only  surviving  child  upon  the  bounty  of  his 
mother's  relations  who  resided  at  Santa  Cruz,  where  he 
received  the  rudiments  of  his  education,  commencing 
at  a  tender  age.  As  an  instance  of  which,  rarely  as  he 
alluded  to  his  personal  history,  he  mentioned  with  a  smile, 
his  having  been  taught  to  repeat  the  decalogue  in  He- 
brew, at  the  school  of  a  Jewess,  when  so  small  that  he 
was  placed  standing  by  her  side  upon  a  table. 

There  is  reason  to  believe,  from  the  low  state  of  edu- 
cation in  the  West  Indies,  that  the  circle  of  his  youthful 
studies  was  very  limited,  probably  embracing  little  more 
than  the  English  and  French  languages,  which  he  wrote 
and  spoke  with  fluency.  With  a  strong  propensity  to 
literature,  he  early  became  a  lover  of  books ;  and  the 
time  that  other  youths  devote  to  classical  learning,  was 
by  him  employed  in  miscellaneous  reading,  happily  di- 
rected by  the  advice  of  Doctor  Knox,  a  respectable  Pres- 
byterian divine,  who,  delighted  with  the  precocity  of  his 
mind,  took  a  deep  interest  in  its  development. 

The  fervent  piety  of  this  gentleman  gave  a  strong  re- 
ligious bias  to  his  feelings,  the  topics  of  their  conversation 
opening  to  him  a  glimpse  of  those  polemical  controversies 
which  have  called  forth  the  highest  efforts  of  intellect. 


HAMILTON.  43 

In  the  autumn  of  seventeen  hundred  sixty-nine,  he 
was  placed  in  the  counting-house  of  Nicholas  Cruger,  an 
opulent  and  worthy  merchant  then  residing  at  Santa  Cruz. 
Foreign  as  such  an  avocation  was  to  his  inclinations,  he 
nevertheless  gave  to  it  his  characteristic  assiduity.  But 
his  inward  promptings  looked  far  beyond  the  desk.  He 
thought  of  immortality ;  and  fondly  contemplated  from 
his  island  home  those  fields  of  glory  and  summits  of  honor 
which  opened  themselves  to  his  imagination  from  beyond 
the  deep. 

A  letter  written  at  this  time  to  his  schoolfellow,  Ed- 
ward Stevens,  then  in  New  York,  shows  his  aspirations. 

St.  Croix,  Nov.  llth,  1769. 
DEAR  EDWARD, 

This  serves  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  yours  per 
Capt.  Lowndes,  which  was  delivered  me  yesterday*  The 
truth  of  Capt.  Lightbowen  and  Lowndes'  information  is 
now  verified  by  the  presence  of  your  father  and  sister, 
for  whose  safe  arrival  1  pray,  and  that  they  may  convey 
that  satisfaction  to  your  soul,  that  must  naturally  flow  from 
the  sight  of  absent  friends  in  health ;  and  shall  for  news 
this  way,  refer  you  to  them. 

As  to  what  you  say,  respecting  your  soon  having  the 
happiness  of  seeing  us  all,  I  wish  for  an  accomplishment 
of  your  hopes,  provided  they  are  concomitant  with  your 
welfare,  otherwise  not ;  though  doubt  whether  I  shall  be 
present  or  not,  for  to  confess  my  weakness,  Ned,  my  am- 
bition is  prevalent,  so  that  I  contemn  the  grovelling  con- 
dition of  a  clerk,  or  the  like,  to  which  my  fortune  con- 
demns me,  and  would  willingly  risk  my  life,  though  not 
my  character,  to  exalt  my  station.  I  am  confident,  Ned, 
that  my  youth  excludes  me  from  any  hopes  of  immediate 
preferment,  nor  do  I  desire  it ;  but  I  mean  to  prepare  the 


44  THE    KEPUBLIC. 

way  for  futurity.  I'm  no  philosopher,  you  see,  and  may 
be  justly  said  to  build  castles  in  the  air ;  my  folly  makes 
me  ashamed,  and  beg  you'll  conceal  it ;  yet,  Neddy,  we 
have  seen  such  schemes  successful,  when  the  projector  is 
constant.  I  shall  conclude  by  saying,  I  wish  there  was  a 
war. 

I  am, 

Dear  Edward, 
Yours, 

ALEX.  HAMILTON. 

P.  S.  I  this  moment  received  yours  by  William  Smith, 
and  pleased  to  see  you  give  such  close  application  to 
study. 

Such  was  his  aptitude  for  business  and  his  advance  in 
the  confidence  of  his  principal,  that  in  his  thirteenth  year 
he  was  left  by  Mr.  Cruger,  who  made  a  visit  to  New 
York,  at  the  head  of  his  establishment.  His  letters  of 
this  period,  preserved  in  the  books  of  his  employer,  writ- 
ten to  various  persons,  evince  a  capacity  and  prudence 
which  show  that  this  unusual  trust  was  not  misplaced.* 

This  occupation  proved  a  great  and  lasting  benefit  to 
him.  Amid  his  various  engagements  in  later  years  he 
adverted  to  it  as  the  most  useful  part  of  his  education. 
The  little  leisure  his  mercantile  duties  left  him  was  well 
employed.  His  knowledge  of  mathematics  was  increased  ; 
he  became  fond  of  chemistry,  and  in  after  life  urged  its 
study. 

Occasionally  he  read  works  upon  ethics,  but  his  favor- 
ite authors  were  Pope  and  Plutarch,  on  the  latter  of 
which  there  remain  some  curious  observations  from  his 
youthful  pen. 

He  frequently,  also,  exercised  himself  in  composition, 

*  Hamilton's  Works,  I.,  2,  3. 


HAMILTON.  45 

chiefly  on  moral  topics,  to  which,  at  a  later  period,  he  re- 
sorted as  a  relaxation. 

This  talent  decided  his  fortunes.  In  August  seventeen 
hundred  seventy-two,  soon  after  he  had  returned  from  a 
commercial  errand  to  St.  Eustatia,  the  Leeward  Islands 
were  visited  by  a  terrific  hurricane.  Before  its  terrors 
had  worn  off,  and  while  its  desolating  effects  were  still  vis- 
ible, a  description  of  it  which  appeared  in  the  neighboring 
island  of  St.  Christophers,*  attracted  general  attention  at 
St.  Croix.  Curiosity  was  awakened,  and  it  was  traced  to 
Hamilton.  His  wishes  being  consulted,  it  was  determined 
to  send  him  to  New  York  to  complete  his  education.  It 
is  related  that  on  his  voyage  the  vessel  took  fire,  which 
was  with  difficulty  extinguished.  He  arrived  at  Boston 
in  October  seventy-two,  and  proceeded  to  New  York, 
where,  through  the  kindness  of  his  friend,  Dr.  Knox,  he 
was  introduced  to  Doctors  Rogers,  Mason,  and  other  gen- 
tlemen of  distinction. 

Funds  were  provided  by  his  relations,  and  he  joined  a 
grammar  school  at  Elizabethtown,  New  Jersey,  established 
under  the  patronage  of  Governor  Livingston  and  Mr. 
Boudinot,  of  whose  families  he  became  a  frequent  inmate. 

The  principal  of  it  was  Francis  Barber,  an  estimable 
man,  who,  full  of  Greek  and  Roman  lore,  fired  by  the 
prospect  of  distinction,  broke  up  his  school  at  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Revolution,  and  entered  the  army.  Rising  to 
the  rank  of  colonel,  he  was  often  and  much  distinguished. 
Among  Hamilton's  schoolfellows  were  Jonathan  Dayton, 
afterwards  speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives ; 
Brockholst  Livingston,  subsequently  a  judge  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  the  United  States,  and  others  who  became 
of  note. 

*  In  Tiebout's  paper,  as  stated.    Five  hundred  houses  were  blown  down  in 
Santu  Cruz. 


4fi  THEKEPUBLIC. 

Here  his  industry  kept  pace  with  his  wider  prospects. 
During  the  winter,  while  at  the  house  of  the  governor,  he 
frequently,  wrapt  in  a  blanket,  labored  until  midnight, 
and  in  summer  would  resort  at  dawn  to  the  quiet  of  a 
near  cemetery,  where  he  was  often  seen  preparing  his 
lessons  for  the  day. 

His  habits  of  composition  were  continued.  An  elegy 
by  him  on  the  death  of  a  young  lady  in  whose  family  he 
was  intimate,  was  remembered  as  possessing  merit.  He 
also  composed  a  prologue  and  epilogue  for  a  play  which 
was  performed  by  the  officers  of  a  body  of  British  sol- 
diers stationed  in  the  vicinity.  His  friend,  Mr.  Boudinot, 
having  lost  an  infant,  he  sat  up  to  watch  the  corpse  the 
night  prior  to  its  interment,  and,  during  this  gloomy  office 
of  friendship,  wrote  consolatory  verses  which  were  pre- 
sented to  its  mother  as  a  tribute  of  regard,  and  were  long 
preserved  with  interest. 

Before  the  end  of  the  year  he  was  deemed  fit  to  enter 
upon  his  collegiate  course,  and  after  returning  to  New 
York,  proceeded  with  Mr.  Mulligan,*  in  whose  house  he 
lodged,  on  a  visit  to  Dr.  Witherspoon,  the  distinguished 

*  Hercules  Mulligan,  from  whose  written  narrative  many  of  the  incidents 
of  Hamilton's  early  life  are  derived,  was  a  brother  of  Mr.  Mulligan,  of  the  firm 
of  Kortwright  and  Company,  to  whom  West  India  produce  was  consigned,  to 
be  sold  and  appropriated  to  the  support  of  Hamilton.  He  had  been  very  active 
in  the  earlier  scenes  of  the  Revolution,  aud  outlived  most  of  the  Revolutionary 
race.  He  was  chosen  one  of  the  Committee  of  One  Hundred,  and  after  tin; 
battle  of  Long  Island,  he,  with  many  other  whigs,  left  the  city.  A  party  ot 
tories,  it  is  related,  seized  him  at  midnight,  threw  a  blanket  over  him,  and 
carried  him  to  New  York,  where  he  was  detained.  After  Hamilton  entered 
the  family  of  Washington,  Mulligan  became  the  confidential  correspondent  of 
the  commander-in-chief,  furnished  most  important  intelligence,  and  apprised 
him  of  a  plot  to  seize  him.  When  Arnold  reached  New  York,  Mulligan  was 
seized  and  thrown  into  the  Provost,  in  hopes  of  fixing  on  him  the  evidence 
of  his  having  given  information  ;  but  his  skill  was  such  that  he  was  not  de- 
tected. Upon  the  evacuation  of  that  city,  Washington  complimented  him  by 
taking  his  first  breakfast  with  this  zealous  patriot. 


HAMILTON.  47 

president  of  Princeton  College.  After  a  private  exami- 
nation, he  expressed  a  wish  to  be  admitted  to  either 
class  which  his  attainments  would  justify,  but  with  the 
condition  that  he  might  advance  from  class  to  class  as 
rapidly  as  his  exertions  would  enable  him  to  do.  This 
novel  proposition  surprised  the  president,  and  he  promised 
to  submit  it  to  the  trustees.  Upon  Hamilton's  return  to 
New  York,  an  answer  from  the  president  regretted  that 
the  usages  of  the  college  forbade  a  compliance  with 
his  request,  "inasmuch  as  he  was  convinced  that  the 
young  gentleman  would  do  honor  to  any  seminary." 

Failing  in  his  object,  he  entered  KINGS,  now  Columbia 
College,  in  the  City  of  New  York,  an  institution  chartered 
by  George  the  Second,  "  for  the  instruction  of  youth  in 
the  learned  languages  and  the  liberal  arts  and  sciences," 
and  with  a  large  view  of  the  future,  expressly  declared  to 
be  with  "  the  good  design  of  promoting  a  liberal  education, 
and  to  make  the  same  as  beneficial  as  may  be,  not  only  to 
the  inhabitants  of  the  province  of  New  York,  but  to  all 
our  colonies  and  territories  in  America." 

Under  its  auspices,  with  the  aid  of  a  tutor,  Hamilton 
prosecuted  the  plan  he  had  marked  out  for  himself,  being 
received  as  a  private  student. 

To  his  collegiate  studies  he  soon  added  that  of  anato- 
my,* having  entertained  the  idea  of  selecting  the  practice 
of  medicine  as  his  profession. 

With  his  early  companion  Stevens,  and  his  cherished 
and  devoted  friends,  Robert  Troup  and  Nicholas  Fish,  he 
joined  a  debating  club,  where,  they  relate,  "  he  gave  ex- 
traordinary displays  of  richness  of  genius  and  energy  of 
mind." 

"  At  this  time,"  Troup  writes,  "  the  '  General '  was  at- 
tentive to  public  worship,  and  in  the  habit  of  praying  on 

*  He  attended  the  Lectures  of  Dr.  Clossey. 


48  THE   REPUBLIC. 

his  knees  night  and  morning.  I  lived  in  the  same  room 
with  him  for  some  time,  and  I  have  often  been  powerfully 
affected  by  the  fervor  and  eloquence  of  his  prayers.  He 
had  read  many  of  the  polemical  writers  on  religious  sub- 
jects, and  he  was  a  zealous  believer  in  the  fundamental 
doctrines  of  Christianity.  I  confess  that  the  arguments 
with  which  he  was  accustomed  to  justify  his  belief,  have 
tended  in  no  small  degree  to  confirm  my  own  faith  in  re- 
vealed religion."  * 

A  hymn  of  some  merit  written  at  this  time,  entitled 
"  The  soul  entering  into  bliss,"  is  preserved.  These  ear- 
nest feelings  were  not  tinged  with  melancholy.  Consti- 
tutionally happy,  he  mingled  gayly  with  his  friends,  and 
often,  as  Mulligan  relates,  "  used  to  sit  the  evening  with 
my  family,  writing  doggerel  verses  for  their  amusement, 
and  was  always  amiable  and  cheerful."  His  talent  for 
satire  was  also  exercised.  "John  Holt,"  who  then  pub- 
lished a  whig  paper  in  New  York,  Troup  relates,  "  had, 
by  his  zeal  in  the  American  cause,  drawn  upon  himself 
the  invectives  of  all  the  ministerial  writers.  These  in- 
vectives Hamilton  burlesqued  in  doggerel  rhyme  with 
great  wit  and  humor.  He  also  presented  me  with  a 
manuscript  of  fugitive  poetry,  which  I  considered  as  a 
strong  evidence  of  the  elasticity  of  his  genius ;  and  have 
often  lamented  that  it  was  lost  with  my  books  and  papers 
during  the  war." 

This  pastime  was  soon  to  end.  Grave  events  were 
approaching  which  would  impose  on  the  youth  of  America 
the  responsibilities  of  manhood.  Boston,  about  to  be  be- 
leaguered, had  invoked  its  sister  towns  to  unite  in  an  ex- 
position of  their  wrongs,  and  Massachusetts  was  echoing 
throughout  its  borders  responsive  voices  of  discontent. 

*  The  excellent  family  of  the  Boudinots  relate  that  he  occasionally  made  a 
family  prayer  in  their  presence. 


HAMILTON.  49 

The  precedent  of  New  York,  which  had  brought  together 
the  Congress  of  sixty-five,  was  now  followed  by  Virginia,* 
recommending  intercolonial  committees  of  correspond- 
ence, but  as  yet  without  effect. 

In  England,  the  agreement  not  to  import  tea  had  been 
more  seriously  felt  than  was  anticipated.  An  indirect 
supply  to  America  was  obtained  chiefly  in  Dutch  vessels, 
New  York  thus  resuming  in  part  its  former  commercial 
relations.  Of  revenue  from  this  source,  not  five  hundred 
dollars  had  reached  the  coffers  of  the  crown.  The  East 
India  Company  were  groaning  under  an  immense  accumu- 
lation. Unable  to  pay  their  annual  bonus  to  the  govern- 
ment, or  their  private  debts,  they  sought  relief  in  a  per- 
mission to  ship  their  teas  free  of  duty,  wherever  they 
could  find  a  market.  This  true  policy  was  rejected,  and 
it  was  resolved  to  maintain  the  tax  upon  the  colonies. 
The  relief  actually  granted  to  the  East  India  Company  was 
a  drawback  of  the  whole  of  the  duties  on  teas  which  should 
be  exported  by  it  to  America.  While  measures  were  be- 
ing taken,  in  England,  by  the  appointment  of  consignees 
to  this  company  to  carry  this  plan  into  effect,  committees 
of  correspondence  were  appointed  by  the  patriots  in 
America  to  defeat  it.  Philadelphia  was  earliest  in  action. 
She  denounced  any  abettors  of  its  introduction  as  ene- 
mies to  their  country,  and  required  the  consignees  to  re- 
sign.f  They  yielded  to  the  impressive  command. J 

On  the  same  day,  New  York  and  Boston  took  similar 
measures.  The  consignees  in  New  York  resigned  their 

*  May,  1773.  f  Oct.  18,  1773. 

\  Gordon  not  too  accurate,  i.  5r31.  The  States  of  New  York  and  Pennsyl- 
vania had  kept  to  their  agreement,  and  had  used  all  the  teas  the  market  de- 
manded ;  but  there  had  heen  imported  into  Boston,  from  the  beginning  of  1768 
to  the  end  of  1772,  not  less  than  2,714  chests,  by  more  than  a  hundred  dif- 
ferent persons. 

VOL. 


50  THE    KE PUBLIC. 

appointments.  The  persons  selected  to  destroy  the  tea  * 
were  notified  to  be  prepared,  and  a  few  days  after,  the 
association  of  the  "  Sons  of  Liberty  "  was  formally  reorgan- 
ized. Their  first  act  was  to  pass  resolves  similar  to  those 
of  Philadelphia.  To  insure  their  execution  they  declared 
"  whoever  shall  transgress  any  of  them,  we  will  not  deal 
with,  or  employ,  or  have  any  connection  with  him."  f 

The  day  prior  to  this  reorganization,  the  expected  tea 
ship  arrived  in  Boston.  It  was  hoped  that  the  firm  exam- 
ple of  New  York  would  induce  the  consignees  to  decline 
their  office.  Not  so.  The  governor,  though  alarmed, 
was  pledged  to  test  the  question,  and  the  consignees  par- 
leyed. The  people  were  determined.  An  immense  meet- 
ing resolved  that  the  tea  should  not  be  landed — that  no  duty 
should  be  levied  on  it — meanwhile  two  more  tea  ships  ar- 
rived. The  expostulations  with  the  consignees  were  con- 
tinued. Another  mass  meeting  was  held,  and  at  its  close, 
at  a  concerted  signal,  a  party  disguised  as  Indians  rushed 
to  the  wharf.  Having  stationed  guards  to  prevent  other 
spoliation,  they  went  on  board  the  vessels  and  threw  the 
tea  chests  into  the  bay.  The  strong  necessity  excused 
this  destruction  of  private  property.  Expresses  forth- 
with came  to  New  York  and  to  Philadelphia.  The  latter 
formally  approved  the  procedure.  At  New  York,  the 
Sons  of  Liberty  called  the  citizens  together.  They 
pledged  their  support  to  the  other  colonies,  and  appointed 
a  committee  of  correspondence.  Tryon  and  the  city  au- 
thorities interposed  with  an  assurance  that  the  tea,  when 
arrived,  should  be  lodged  in  the  fort,  to  await  orders  for 
its  delivery  from  the  council  or  from  the  king.  The  citi- 
zens rejected  the  proffer,  insisting  that  the  tea  should  not 
touch  the  shore. 

»  Nor.  29— called  "  Mohawks." 
f  Handbill.     N.  Y.  Society  Library. 


HAMILTON.  51 

The  New  Year  opened,  but  no  countenance  came  from 
England,  no  hope  was  held  out.  The  king  was  more  than 
ever  bent  upon  coercion.  The  English  people  were  true 
to  their  allegiance  and  to  their  pride.  "  The  colonies," 
was  the  general  voice,  "  must  be  reduced  to  submission." 
Even  Pitt,  now  Lord  Chatham,  pronounced  against  them. 
Late  in  March,  a  bill  reciting  the  commotions  in  Boston, 
closing  its  port,  directing  the  armed  vessels  stationed  there 
to  compel  the  departure  of  ships  approaching  its  harbor, 
until  satisfaction  were  made  for  the  tea  destroyed,  was 
under  debate.  Fox  urged  with  his  characteristic  liberal 
sagacity,  a  total  repeal  of  the  obnoxious  taxes.  Burke, 
with  all  his  pictured  eloquence,  warned  in  prophetic  tones 
the  consequences  of  the  measure.  "  This  bill,"  exclaimed 
Johnston,  who  had  lived  in  America,  "  endangers  a  revolt. 
Its  effect  must  be  to  produce  a  general  confederacy  to 
resist  the  power  of  this  country  in  Parliament."  London 
merchants  offered  to  pay  the  loss,  were  the  bill  suspended. 
Monition,  entreaty,  argument,  were  vain. 

The  passage  of  this  bill  preceded  but  a  short  time  an 
act,  for  the  impartial  administration  of  justice  in  the  cases 
of  persons  questioned  for  acts  done  by  them  in  the  exe- 
cution of  the  law  for  the  suppression  of  tumults  or  riots. 
It  authorized  the  governor  of  a  colony  to  order  trials  in 
other  colonies  or  in  Great  Britain,  and  protected  the  pros- 
ecutors and  the  witnesses — and  this — though  the  indict- 
ments were  for  murder.  The  act  was  to  take  effect  in 
June,  and  to  continue  three  years.  Soon  after  was  the 
act  for  the  better  regulating  the  government  of  Massa- 
chusetts bay.  It  invaded  the  charter  of  that  colony,  in- 
terdicted town  meetings,  except  when  held  for  the  elec- 
tion of  town  officers  or  unless  permitted  by  the  governor, 
gave  to  him  the  appointment  and  removal  of  the  sheriffs 
who  were  to  impanel  juries.  Then  came  a  law  rendering 


52  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1774 

legal  the  quartering  troops  in  Boston,  and  an  act  regulat- 
ing the  government  of  Quebec. 

While  England  was  enacting  this  comprehensive  tyr- 
anny, New  York  fulfilled  her  pledge  to  the  other  colo- 
nies. 

On  the  eighteenth  of  April  a  tea  ship  arrived  there. 
The  captain,  informed  of  the  determination  not  to  permit 
its  being  landed,  acquiesced,  and  was  ordered  to  return. 
The  bells  gave  notice  of  the  time  of  his  departure.  A 
vast  concourse  assembled.  The  band  played  "  God  save 
the  King."  The  ships  displayed  their  flags.  That  on  the 
liberty  pole  was  unfurled  amid  a  royal  salute  of  artillery, 
and  the  captain  was  escorted  in  a  pilot  boat  to  his  vessel. 
Thus  was  he  to  carry  with  him  home  this  evidence  of  a 
deliberate  public  sentiment.  Another  ship  with  tea  ar- 
riving, the  captain  denied  it  was  on  board.  The  hatches 
were  opened,  the  chests  discovered,  and  the  "  Mohawks  " 
notified  to  perform  their  office.  The  people  would  not 
wait  their  coming,  and  in  the  presence  of  men  of  reputa- 
tion, to  prevent  unnecessary  injury,  the  chests  of  tea  were 
cast  into  the  water.*  The  indignation  of  this  city  was, 
soon  after,  shown  by  burning  in  effigy  NORTH,  the  new 
premier,  WEUDERBURNE  and  HTJTCHINSON.  Handbills 
with  their  coffins  were  distributed.  The  less  excited  of 
the  citizens  were  alarmed  ;  a  meeting  was  called  f  to  nom- 
inate a  committee  of  a  more  moderate  temper. 

The  next  day  an  express  arrived  from  Boston,  bring- 
ing circular  letters  asking  a  general  concert  of  non-im- 
portation and  non-exportation  to  Britain.  A  few  days 

*  "William  Backhouse  to in  Schenectady,  April  23,  1774  :  "  He  was 

obliged,  for  our  peace  and  the  safety  of  the  ship,  to  give  it  tip  to  the  people 
commonly  called  "  Liberty  Boys,"  last  night,  when  they  hove  all  the  tea  into 
the  river." 

f  May  16,  1774. 


.Er.  17.]  HAMILTON.  53 

after,  a  meeting  was  held  to  elect  a  standing  committee  of 
fifty,  to  whom  one  was  added.  Of  these  some  were  ultra 
loyalists.  It  was  hoped  that  New  York  would  falter.  But 
the  proceedings  of  this  committee  were  wiser  than  those 
of  the  popular  leaders.  New  York  had  already  suffered 
from  the  infidelity  of  other  mercantile  associations.  She 
was  unwilling  to  incur  a  similar  risk.  This  committee 
answered  Boston,*  "  The  cause  is  general  and  concerns  a 
whole  continent,  who  are  equally  interested  with  you  and 
us  ;  and  we  foresee  that  no  remedy  can  be  of  avail  unless 
it  proceeds  from  the  joint  act  and  approbation  of  all. 
From  a  virtuous  and  spirited  union  much  may  be  expected, 
while  the  feeble  efforts  of  a  few  will  be  attended  with 
mischief  and  disappointment  to  themselves,  and  triumph 
to  the  adversaries  of  our  liberty.  Upon  these  reasons  we 
conclude  that  a  CONGRESS  OF  DEPUTIES,  from  the  colo- 
nies in  general,  is  of  the  utmost  moment,  that  it  ought  to 
be  assembled  without  delay,  and  some  unanimous  resolu- 
tions formed  in  this  emergency,  not  only  respecting  your 
deplorable  circumstances,  but  for  the  security  of  our 
common  rights."  f  They  paused  as  to  the  associations, 
from  want  of  confidence  in  the  observance  of  them  else- 
where. 

Three  days  before,  Virginia  had  recommended  an 
agreement  among  the  colonies  for  an  annual  Congress,  but 
the  proposition  from  New  York  was  of  more  direct  influ- 
ence. The  General  Assembly  of  Connecticut,  the  most 
popular  legislative  body  in  the  colonies,  now  ordered  a 
day  of  humiliation  and  prayer.  They  deprecated  the 
threatening  aspects  of  Divine  Providence,  as  to  the  liber- 
ties of  the  people,  and  urged  them  to  call  upon  "  the  God 

*  May  23,  1774. 

f  This  letter  to  Boston  is  ascribed,  with  great  probability,  to  John  Jay. — 
Life  by  his  son,  i.  24. 


54  THE   KEPUBLIC.  [1774. 

of  all  mercies  to  avert  His  judgments."  Their  next  steps 
were  to  order  an  inventory  of  the  cannon,  arms,  ammu- 
nition, and  military  stores  at  New  London ;  to  appoint 
militia  officers ;  to  organize  an  artillery  company  in  one 
town,  and  a  company  of  grenadiers  in  another.  Pungent 
resolutions  were  passed  condemning  Parliament.  Dona- 
tions to  Boston  followed.*  Soon  after,  the  city  of  New 
York  called  upon  the  interior  counties  of  the  State  to  ap- 
point committees  of  correspondence,  and  proposed  to 
Boston  to  name  a  day  for  the  opening  of  the  Congress, 
sufficiently  remote  to  enable  South  Carolina  to  come  in. 
The  mode  of  electing  the  New  York  delegates  to  this 
Congress  caused  much  excitement.  SEARS  proposed  one 
list,  the  standing  committee  another.  After  repeated  de- 
lays, a  meeting  in  the  fields  was  called.  The  ministerial 
party  deprecated  the  measure,  and,  in  the  interval  of 
doubt,  proposed,  as  a  substitute  for  a  Congress,  an  address 
to  the  king,  "  to  settle  a  constitution  for  America."  They 
were  told,  "  To  the  uncorrupted  patriotism  of  Congress, 
we  commit  our  cause — the  cause  of  God,  the  cause  of  na- 
ture, the  cause  of  America."  f 

On  the  sixth  of  July,  the  GREAT  MEETING  IN  THE 
FIELDS  was  held.  As  to  what  should  then  be  done, 
every  heart  throbbed.  The  loyalist  trembled — the  patriot 
cheered.  Its  action  would  be  decisive. 

To  give  effect  to  its  proceedings,  McDougall,  who  had 
declined  a  nomination  to  Congress  by  the  standing  com- 
mittee— a  man  equal  to  the  great  crisis — was  called  to 
preside. 

*  Hollister,  ii.  152.  Windham  sent  two  hundred  and  fifty  fat  sheep ;  Nor- 
wich, three  hundred  and  ninety  sheep,  besides  money,  wheat,  and  corn ;  Weath- 
ersfield  sent  wheat ;  Western  New  York,  a  larger  supply  of  it ;  Georgia,  rice 
and  specie. 

f  American  Archives,  by  Force;  i.  311. 


JE.T.  17.]  HAMILTON.  55 

Resolutions  *  framed  by  him  were  passed.  They  in- 
veighed against  the  Boston  Port  Act.  An  attack  upon  the 
liberties  or  constitution  of  any  of  the  colonies  is  an  at- 
tack upon  all.  The  shutting  of  any  colonial  port  is  highly 
unconstitutional,  and  subversive  of  commercial  rights. 
If  the  principal  colonies  stop  all  importation  from,  and  ex- 
portation to,  Great  Britain,  till  the  Boston  Port  Act  is  re- 
pealed, it  will  prove  the  salvation  of  North  America  and 
her  liberties.  They  pledged  the  colony  to  be  governed 
by  the  resolutions  of  the  contemplated  Congress,  recom- 
mending a  convention  of  it,  by  deputies,  to  elect  delegates 
to  that  council,  and  called  for  subscriptions  in  aid  of  Bos- 
ton. If  such  convention  were  not  held,  the  counties  were 
asked  to  sanction  the  delegates  chosen  by  the  city  of  New 
York,  a  suggestion  which  was  approved. 

It  was  on  this  momentous  occasion  that  Hamilton,  then 
only  in  his  seventeenth  year,  is  stated  first  to  have  taken 
part  in  the  public  deliberations. 

It  is  related  to  have  been  his  habit  to  walk  several 
hours  each  day  under  the  shade  of  some  large  trees 
which  stood  in  Batteau,  now  Dey  street,  talking  to  him- 
self in  an  undertone  of  voice,  apparently  in  deep 
thought. 

His  neighbors  engaging  in  conversation  with  him,  then 
only  known  as  the  "  Young  West  Indian,"  and  impressed 
with  his  opinions,  urged  him  to  address  the  meeting.f 
From  this  seeming  intrusion,  at  first  he  recoiled.  But 
after  listening  attentively  to  the  successive  speakers,  and 
finding  several  points  untouched,  he  presented  himself  to 
the  assembled  multitude. 

The  novelty  of  the  attempt,  his  youthful  countenance, 
his  slender  boyish  form,  awakened  curiosity  and  excited 
attention.  Overawed  by  the  scene  before  him,  he  hesi- 

*  American  Archive?,  i.  312  f  Statement  of  Skaats. 


56  THE  EEPUBLIC.  [1774. 

tated  and  faltered ;  but  as  he  proceeded,  almost  uncon- 
sciously, to  utter  his  accustomed  reflections,  his  mind 
warmed  with  the  theme ;  his  energies  were  recovered. 
After  a  discussion,  clear,  cogent,  and  novel,  of  the  great 
principles  involved  in  the  controversy,  he  depicted  in  the 
glowing  colors  of  ardent  youth,  the  long-continued  and 
long-endured  oppressions  of  the  mother  country.  Insist- 
ing upon  the  duty  of  resistance,  he  pointed  to  the  means 
and  certainty  of  success ;  and  described  the  waves  of  re- 
bellion sparkling  with  fire,  and  washing  back  on  the 
shores  of  England  the  wrecks  of  her  power,  of  her 
wealth  and  her  glory.  The  breathless  silence  ceased  as 
he  closed ;  and  a  whispered  murmur,  "  It  is  a  collegian ! 
it  is  a  collegian !  "  was  lost  in  loud  expressions  of  wonder 
and  applause  at  the  extraordinary  eloquence  of  the  young 
stranger. 

The  proceedings  of  this  assemblage  were  disavowed 
by  the  standing  committee,  und  to  obtain  an  expression  of 
opinion  that  would  not  be  disputed,  a  poll  of  the  voters 
was  ordered.  The  popular  leaders,  eager  for  an  imme- 
diate agreement  not  to  import,  required  of  the  candidates 
named  by  the  standing  committee  as  delegates  to  Con- 
gress, a  pledge  to  favor  such  an  agreement.  Declaring 
their  opinion,  that  a  general  non-importation  agreement, 
faithfully  observed,  would  prove  the  most  efficacious 
means  to  procure  a  redress  of  grievances,  they  were 
elected. 

The  several  colonies  came  into  the  great  measure,  and 
chose  their  delegates,  some  by  the  people,  some  by  con- 
ventions, others  by  their  assemblies.  Those  of  New 
York,*  on  their  departure  for  Philadelphia,  were  escorted 

*  They  were  James  Duane,  John  Jay,  Philip  Livingston,  Isaac  Low,  John 
Alsop.  Suffolk  appointed  William  Floyd  ;  Orange,  Henry  Wisner  and  Her- 
ring ;  Kings,  Simon  Boerum. 


^ET.  17.]  HAMILTON.  57 

by  the  citizens  to  the  ferry,  with  colors  flying  and  music 
playing,  amid  loud  huzzas  and  assurances,  that  "they 
would  support,  at  the  risk  of  every  thing  dear,"  such  reso- 
lutions as  the  Congress  should  adopt. 


CHAPTER    III 

ON  the  appointed  day,  the  fifth  of  September,  the  first 
Continental  Congress  was  organized.  Eleven  colonies, 
Georgia  not  being  represented,  met  as  equals,  each  having 
one  vote.  The  Puritan,  Samuel  Adams,  proposed  an 
episcopal  clergyman  to  open  their  solemn  duties  with 
prayer. 

All  questions  of  relative  importance,  all  local  preju- 
dices, all  differences  of  religion,  customs,  manners,  were 
forgotten.  Never  was  the  cause  of  freedom  ministered 
to  by  men  more  worthy  the  great  trust.  From  Virginia, 
as  the  eldest  colony,  the  presiding  officer  was  selected  in 
the  person  of  Peyton  Randolph,  whose  black  velvet  suit 
marked  his  precedence. 

The  Congress  first  resolved  "  to  state  the  rights  of  the 
colonies  in  general,  the  several  instances  in  which  those 
rights  were  violated  or  infringed,  and  the  means  most 
proper  for  a  restoration  of  them."  Next,  "  to  examine  and 
report  the  several  statutes  which  affect  the  trade  and 
manufactures  of  the  colonies,"  not  earlier  than  the  last 
nine  years. 

While  these  subjects  were  under  consideration,  reso- 
lutions of  Boston  and  its  neighbors  were  laid  before  them, 
stating  their  wrongs  and  merely  defensive  measures  to 
which  they  would  adhere,  "  as  long  as  such  conduct  may 
be  vindicated  by  reason  and  the  principles  of  self-preser- 


MT  17.]  HAMILTON.  59 

vation,  but  no  longer."  In  contemplation  of  the  future, 
the  collectors  of  their  taxes  had  been  instructed  not  to 
pay  over  the  public  moneys  to  the  provincial  treasury,  and 
the  election  of  officers  of  militia  was  advised ;  men  "  of 
sufficient  capacity  for  that  purpose,  who  had  evidenced 
themselves  inflexible  friends  to  the  rights  of  the  people." 

Congress  unanimously  approved  and  recommended 
"  a  perseverance  in  this  firm  and  temperate  conduct," 
trusting  a  change  in  the  councils  of  the  British  nation. 
The  merchants  were  urged  not  to  order  goods,  and  to 
suspend  those  ordered  ;  and  it  was  resolved,  that  after  the 
first  of  next  December  there  should  be  no  importation  of 
British  goods,  and  no  consumption  of,  or  traffic  in  them. 
A  loyal  petition  to  the  king  was  ordered,  assuring  him 
that  by  abolishing  the  system  of  laws  and  regulations  of 
which  the  colonies  complained,  enumerating  them,  the 
jealousies  they  had  caused  would  be  removed,  and  har- 
mony restored.  "We  ask  but  for  peace,  liberty  and  safe- 
ty. We  wish  not  a  diminution  of  the  prerogative,  nor 
do  we  solicit  the  grant  of  any  new  right  in  our  favor. 
Your  royal  authority  over  us,  and  our  connection  with 
Great  Britain,  we  shall  always  carefully  and  zealously 
endeavor  to  support  and  maintain." 

General  Gage  was  entreated  to  discontinue  the  erec- 
tion of  the  fortifications  on  Boston  Neck,  and  to  prevent 
all  injuries  on  the  part  of  the  troops ;  and  Massachusetts 
was  asked  "  temporarily  to  submit  to  a  suspension  of  the 
administration  of  justice  where  it  could  not  be  procured  in 
a  legal  and  peaceable  manner."  Persons  accepting  of- 
fice under  the  recent  act,  changing  the  form  of  her  gov- 
ernment, were  denounced,  "  as  the  wicked  tools  of  that 
despotism  which  is  preparing  to  destroy  those  rights 
which  God,  nature,  and  compact  have  given  to  America." 

A  memorial  was  next  ordered  to  the  inhabitants  of 


GO  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1VT4. 

the  British  colonies  there  represented,  exposing  their 
common  wrongs  and  urging  a  united  "commercial  op- 
position," warning  them  to  extend  their  views  "  to  mourn- 
ful events,"  to  be  "in  all  respects  prepared  for  every 
contingency,  and  to  implore  the  favor  of  Almighty  God." 
An  appeal  was  made  to  the  enlightened  sympathies  of  the 
British  people.  "  Permit  us  to  be  as  free  as  yourselves, 
and  we  shall  ever  esteem  a  union  with  you  to  be  our 
greatest  glory  and  our  greatest  happiness ;  we  shall  ever 
be  ready  to  contribute  all  in  our  power  to  the  welfare  of 
the  empire ;  we  shall  consider  your  enemies  as  our  ene- 
mies and  your  interests  as  our  own."  "  Place  us  in  the 
same  situation  that  we  were  at  the  close  of  the  last  war, 
and  our  former  harmony  will  be  restored." 

Finally,  an  address  was  made  to  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Province  of  Quebec,  inviting  their  co-operation. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  form  of  a  non-exportation,  non- 
consumption  association  was  adopted,  and  signed  by  each 
of  the  delegates.  A  desire  not  to  injure  their  fellow  sub- 
jects in  Great  Britain,  Ireland  or  the  West  Indies,  in- 
duced them  to  defer  a  twelvemonth,  as  recommended  by 
Virginia,  the  non-exportation  thither  of  any  commodity  or 
merchandise,  except  rice  to  Europe.  To  insure  an  effec- 
tual observance  of  this  covenant,  committees  of  observa- 
tion for  each  precinct  were  recommended,  persons  viola- 
ting it  to  be  punished  as  foes  to  American  liberty.  A 
committee  of  correspondence  for  each  colony  was  ad- 
vised, and  intercourse  was  interdicted  with  any  province 
not  acceding  to  or  violating  this  agreement,  which  was 
to  be  in  force  until  the  specified  obnoxious  acts  were  re- 
pealed. 

A  declaration  of  the  rights  and  injuries  of  the  colonies 
was  made,  in  which  the  most  difficult  question  was  dis- 
posed of. 


Mt.  17.]  HAMILTON.  61 

The  right  to  participate  in  the  legislative  council  of 
their  common  country,  was  declared  to  be  the  foundation 
of  English  liberty  and  of  all  free  government.  As  the 
colonists  were  not  represented,  and  from  their  local  and 
other  circumstances,  cannot  properly  be  represented  in 
the  British  Parliament,  they  were  entitled  to  a  free  and 
exclusive  power  of  taxation  in  their  several  provincial 
legislatures,  where  their  right  of  representation  can  alone 
be  preserved  in  all  cases  of  taxation  and  internal  polity, 
subject  only  to  the  negative  of  their  sovereign.  But  from 
the  necessity  of  the  case  and  a  regard  to  the  mutual  inter- 
est of  both  countries,  their  cheerful  consent  was  given  to 
the  operation  of  such  acts  of  Parliament  as  were  bona 
fide  restrained  to  the  regulation  of  their  external  com- 
merce for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  commercial  advan- 
tages of  the  whole  empire  to  the  mother  country,  and  the 
commercial  benefits  of  its  respective  members,  excluding 
every  idea  of  taxation,  internal  or  external,  for  raising  a 
revenue  on  the  subjects  in  America,  without  their  consent. 

Of  all  these  proceedings  the  language  was  that  of 
peace,  except  where  other  language  was  demanded.  For 
they  approved  the  opposition  of  the  inhabitants  of  Mas- 
sachusetts Bay  to  the  execution  of  the  late  acts  of  Par- 
liament, and  declared,  "If  these  acts  shall  be  attempted 
to  be  carried  into  execution  by  force,  in  such  case  ALL 
AMERICA  ought  to  support  them  in  their  opposition,"  and 
"  that  seizing  or  attempting  to  seize  any  person  in  Amer- 
ica, in  order  to  transport  such  person  beyond  the  sea  for 
trial  of  offences  committed  within  the  body  of  a  county 
in  America,  being  against  law,  will  justify,  and  ought  to 
meet  with,  resistance  and  reprisal." 

These  were  the  essential  resolutions.  They  bound  the 
colonies  to  a  common  resistance  to  acts  of  force  against 
all,  or  any  one  of  them. 


62  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1774. 

They  also  declared  their  opinion  of  the  necessity,  thai 
another  Congress  should  be  held  in  the  ensuing  month  of 
May,  unless  the  redress  of  grievances  which  they  had  de- 
sired, was  obtained  before  that  time,  and  that  all  the  colo- 
nies in  North  America  choose  deputies,  as  soon  as  possible, 
to  attend  such  Congress.  On  the  twenty-sixth  of  Octo- 
ber, after  a  secret  session  of  fifty-one  days,  this  body 
adjourned. 

The  recommendations  of  this  Congress  were  received 
with  marked  respect  among  the  patriots  of  the  colonies. 
A  public  manifestation  of  it  was  now  given  in  Maryland. 
A  vessel  arrived  at  Annapolis  laden  with  tea.  The  peo- 
ple resolved  and  threatened  its  destruction.  The  alarmed 
master  sought  the  counsel  of  Charles  Carroll,  just  begin- 
ning his  long  distinguished  career.  He  advised,  as  the 
only  means  of  quieting  them,  the  immediate  sacrifice  of  the 
property.  The  sails  were  set,  the  colors  unfurled,  and 
amid  the  exultations  of  the  multitude,  the  vessel  was  a 
mass  of  fire.* 

It  would  be  a  great  achievement  so  to  impair  the  influ- 
ence of  the  self-denying  ordinance  of  Congress  as  to  in- 
duce its  violation.  This  office  was  undertaken  by  the 
same  individuals,  the  episcopal  clergy  of  New  York,  who 
had  distinguished  themselves  in  their  advocacy  of  an 
American  episcopate,  of  which  New  York,  the  head-quar- 
ters of  all  the  colonies,  was  to  be  the  SEE.  Accomplished 
scholars  and  able  writers,  they  again  entered  the  lists  of 
controversy  with  unhesitating  confidence  and  quickened 
zeal ;  "  for  the  Presbyterians,"  they  said,  "  were  the  chief 
instruments  of  all  these  flaming  measures." 

Of  these  loyalists,  Doctor  Myles  Cooper,  an  Oxford 
scholar,  the  president  of  King's  College,  an  Englishman 
by  birth,  held  the  first  rank.  Among  the  other  clerical 

*  Grahame's  United  States,  iv.  330. 


^ET.  17.]  HAMILTON.  6.3 

gentlemen,  Doctor  Inglis,  the  father  of  a  bishop  of  Nova 
Scotia,  Doctor  Seabury,  subsequently  bishop  of  Connec- 
ticut, and  Doctor  Chandler,  were  the  most  prominent. 

Of  the  champions  for  the  colonies  in  New  York,  Liv- 
ingston, afterwards  governor  of  New  Jersey,  and  his  son- 
in-law,  John  Jay,  were  the  most  conspicuous.  To  these 
was  added  the  name  of  Hamilton. 

His  "  debut  as  a  political  writer,  was  on  the  necessity 
and  policy  of  destroying  the  tea  at  Boston.  The  tories 
regarded  this  bold  measure  as  a  most  outrageous  attack 
on  private  rights,  and  as  an  irrefragable  proof  that  the 
Whigs  aimed  at  nothing  less  than  the  overthrow  of  all 
law  and  government."  "When  he  wrote  it,"  Troup 
states,  "  I  was  his  room-mate  in  college."  * 

He  also  kept  up  in  Holt's  Journal,  a  spirited  attack 
upon  the  measures  of  the  British  ministry. f  A  more  im- 
portant controversy  awaited  him. 

About  a  month  after  the  adjournment  of  Congress, 
two  tracts  appeared,  the  productions  of  Seabury.  The 
first  bore  the  title  of  "  Free  Thoughts  on  the  proceedings 
of  the  Continental  Congress;"  the  other  was  entitled, 
"  Congress  Canvassed  by  a  Westchester  Farmer." 

In  the  first,  the  writer,  with  much  art,  endeavors  to 
impress  the  minds  of  the  colonists  with  the  dangers  of 
restrictive  measures ;  to  excite  the  jealousy  of  the  farm- 
ers against  the  merchants,  alleging  that  the  whole  object 
was  to  engross  a  monopoly  of  goods ; — anticipates,  as  the 
probable  consequence,  the  closing  of  the  port,  and  the 
suspension  of  justice,  and  remarks,  with  great  ingenuity, 
on  the  inconsistency  of  a  Congress,  which,  pretending  to 

*  Letter  of  Colonel  Troup,  March  17,  1828. 

f  Jay  writes  to  McDougall,  Dec.  5,  1775  :  "  I  hope  Mr.  Hamilton  con- 
tinues busy.  I  have  not  received  Holts  paper  these  three  months,  and  there- 
fore cannot  judge  cfthe  progress  he  makes." 


64  THE   KEPUBLIC.  [1774. 

protect  the  liberties  of  the  people,  had  sanctioned  the  in- 
vasion of  every  private  right,  and  recommended  inquisi- 
torial powers  to  committees,  to  enforce  their  worse  than 
fruitless  agreements ;  artfully  directing  the  attention  of 
the  people  to  the  assembly  of  the  province,  as  the  only 
legitimate  and  adequate  medium  of  redress. 

In  the  second  address,  the  illegality  of  the  recent  elec- 
tions is  strongly  urged ;  the  appropriation  of  the  proceeds 
of  goods  sold  for  the  infraction  of  the  restrictive  associa- 
tions to  the  use  of  the  people  of  Boston,  is  condemned  as 
a  violation  of  the  rights  of  property ;  the  danger  of  ter- 
ritorial encroachments  is  strongly  depicted ;  and  display- 
ing in  full  array  the  omnipotence  of  England,  the  chimera 
of  a  commonwealth  of  congresses  being  able  to  cope 
with  the  vigor  of  the  monarchy,  is  powerfully  ridi- 
culed. 

The  wide,  industrious,  and  gratuitous  circulation  of 
these  pamphlets,  inducing  the  belief  that  they  had  the 
sanction  of  the  government,  they  soon  became  the  text 
book  of  the  tories,  and  were  applauded  by  them  as  con- 
taining irrefutable  arguments  against  the  measures  of  the 
"  Sons  of  Liberty." 

The  zeal  with  which  they  were  extolled  by  the  friends 
of  government,  excited  loud  condemnations  by  the  popu- 
lar party. 

They  were  believed  to  have  been  the  productions  of 
a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England,  who  had  been* 
conspicuous  in  the  support  of  the  ministry.  This  circum- 
stance was  connected  in  the  public  mind  with  the  recol- 
lection of  the  course  adopted  by  the  spiritual  lords  in 
parliament,  and  new  feelings  of  quickened  asperity  were 
aroused.  The  efforts  to  introduce  an  episcopacy  into 
America  were  recurred  to,  and  the  abject  devotion  dis- 
played by  some  of  the  clerical  dependents  of  the  crown, 


^)T.  17.]  HAMILTON.  65 

and  their  unguarded  avowal  of  their  sentiments  increased 
the  odium. 

In  the  journal  of  the  Whigs  (as  they  were  then 
called),  the  zealots  of  the  day  proposed  that  the  author 
and  publisher  should  be  indicted  for  treasonable  designs ; 
and  in  a  neighboring  colony  the  exasperation  rose  so  high, 
that,  at  a  meeting  of  the  county,  the  pamphlets  were 
tarred  and  feathered,  and  nailed  to  the  pillory,  amid  the 
shouts  of  the  people.  Within  a  fortnight  after  the  second 
tract  had  issued  from  the  press,*  a  pamphlet  appeared 
under  the  title  of  "  A  Full  Vindication  of  the  Measures  of 
Congress  from  the  Calumnies  of  their  Enemies,  in  answer 
to  a  letter  under  the  signature  of  A.  W.  Farmer  ;  where- 
by his  sophistry  is  exposed,  his  cavils  confuted,  his  artifices 
detected,  and  his  wit  ridiculed,  in  a  General  Address  to 
the  Inhabitants  of  America,  and  a  Particular  Address  to 
the  Farmers  of  the  Province  of  New  York.  Veritas 
magna  est  et  praevalebit.  Truth  is  powerful,  and  will 
prevail.  New  York.  Printed  by  James  Rivington. 
1774." 

After  a  just  tribute  to  that  "  body,  truly  respectable 
on  every  account,  whether  we  consider  the  characters  of 
the  men  who  composed  it ;  the  number  and  dignity  of 
their  constituents ;  or  the  important  ends  for  which  they 
were  appointed  ; "  the  writer  in  the  outset  meets  the 
question  of  the  supremacy  of  parliament,  as  involving  the 
freedom  or  slavery  of  the  American  people.  "  All  men 
have  one  common  original,  they  participate  in  one  com- 
mon nature,  and  consequently  have  one  common  right. 
No  reason  can  be  assigned  why  one  man  should  exercise 
any  power  or  pre-eminence  over  his  fellow  creatures 
more  than  another,  unless  they  have  voluntarily  vested 
him  with  it.  Since,  then,  Americans  have  not,  by  any 

*  December  15,  1774. 
VOL.  I.— 5. 


66  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1774 

act  of  theirs,  empowered  the  British  Parliament  to  make 
laws  for  them,  it  follows  they  can  have  no  just  authority 
to  do  it."  He  insists,  that  representation  is  essential  to 
the  validity  of  a  tax,  according  to  the  fundamental  prin- 
ciples of  the  British  constitution  and  the  express  condi- 
tions of  the  colonial  charters. 

In  vindication  of  Congress,  he  observes,  "  When  the 
political  salvation  of  any  community  is  depending,  it  is 
incumbent  upon  those  who  are  set  up  as  its  guardians,  to 
embrace  such  measures  as  have  justice,  vigor,  and  a  pro- 
bability of  success  to  recommend  them.  If,  instead  of 
this,  they  take  those  measures  which  are  in  themselves 
feeble,  and  little  likely  to  succeed ;  and  may,  through  a 
defect  of  vigor,  involve  the  community  in  still  greater 
danger,  they  may  be  justly  considered  as  its  betrayers. 
It  is  not  enough,  in  times  of  imminent  peril,  to  use  only 
possible  means  of  preservation.  Justice  and  sound  policy 
dictate  the  use  of  probable  means." 

A  defence  of  the  principle  of  the  restrictive  measures 
follows,  remonstrances  and  petitions  having  failed.  "  The 
obligation  to  a  mutual  intercourse,  in  the  way  of  trade,  is 
of  the  imperfect  kind."  Self-preservation  warrants  its 
disregard. 

Though  the  artisans  of  Great  Britain  and  Ireland 
"  are  not  chargeable  with  any  actual  crime  towards 
America,  they  may,  in  a  political  view,  be  esteemed  crim- 
inal." By  not  preventing  the  wrongs,  they  were  partici- 
pants in  them.  But  "  we  are  ready  to  receive  with  open 
arms  any  who  may  be  sufferers  by  the  operation  of  our 
measures,  and  to  recompense  them  with  every  blessing 
our  country  affords  to  honest  industry.  We  will  receive 
them  as  brethren,  and  make  them  sharers  with  us  in  all 
the  advantages  we  are  struggling  for." 

He  next  defends  the  policy  of  the  restrictive  opposi- 


/Ei.  IT.]  HAMILTON.  67 

tion.  In  a  fine  train  of  thought  he  again  descants  on  the 
value  of  freedom,  but  shows,  in  the  conduct  of  Rome  and 
in  that  of  Great  Britain,  that  the  free  principles  of  the  sov- 
ereign were  not  extended  to  their  "  dependent  provinces." 
"  We  can  have  no  resource,"  he  boldly  affirms,  "  but  in  a 
restriction  of  our  trade,  or  a  resistance  vi  et  armis."  The 
improbability  that  England  would  resort  to  force  is  urged, 
and  the  certainty  of  her  failure  in  such  a  resort  elo- 
quently shown. 

In  reply  to  arguments  as  to  the  impoverishing  effects 
of  a  commercial  opposition,  he  indicates,  as  necessary 
consequences,  the  encouragement  of  manufactures  and 
the  benefits  of  immigration  produced  by  the  loss  of  the 
American  market,  resulting  in  the  "  rapid  growth  of  do- 
mestic resources  which  would  place  the  country  beyond 
the  caprices  of  foreign  powers."  "  If  by  the  necessity  of 
the  thing,  manufactures  should  once  be  established,  and 
take  root  among  us,  they  will  pave  the  way,  still  more,  to 
the  future  grandeur  and  glory  of  America ;  and  by  les- 
sening its  need  of  external  commerce,  will  render  it  still 
securer  against  the  encroachments  of  tyranny." 

The  effect  of  these  restrictions  on  the  commercial  in- 
terests of  Great  Britain,  of  Ireland,  and  of  the  West 
Indies  is  rapidly  portrayed,  as  justifying  the  belief  that 
those  interests  would  compel  a  change  of  measures.  In 
answer  to  the  alarm  sounded  as  to  a  blockade  of  New 
York,  he  shows  the  impracticability  of  a  permanent  em- 
bargo, as  producing  a  permanent  severance  of  empire. 

Having  controverted  the  general  arguments  of  his 
opponents,  he  addresses  the  farmers  as  a  class.  "  I  do 
not  address  you  in  particular,  because  I  have  any  greater 
connection  with  you  than  with  other  people.  I  despise 
all  false  pretensions  and  mean  arts.  Let  those  have 
recourse  to  dissimulation  who  cannot  defend  their  cause 


68  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1774. 

without  it.  'Tis  my  maxim  to  let  the  plain  truth  speak 
for  itself."  "  'Tis  the  farmer  who  is  most  oppressed  in  all 
countries  where  slavery  exists." 

He  then,  in  glowring  colors,  displays  the  injustice  of 
the  Boston  Port  Bill,  and  directs  the  confidence  of  the 
colonists  to  the  wisdom  of  Congress.  Closing  the  sum- 
mary of  their  injuries,  he  exclaims,  the  "  Farmer "  cries, 
"  tell  me  not  of  delegates,  congresses,  committees,  mobs, 
riots,  insurrections,  and  associations, — a  plague  on  them 
all !  Give  me  the  steady,  uniform,  unbiassed  influence  of 
the  courts  of  justice.  I  have  been  happy  under  their 
protection, — I  shall  be  so  again."  "  I  say,  tell  me  not  of 
the  British  commons,  lords,  ministry,  ministerial  tools, 
placemen,  pensioners,  parasites, — I  scorn  to  let  my  life 
and  property  depend  upon  the  pleasure  of  any  of  them. 
Give  me  the  steady,  uniform,  unshaken  security  of  con- 
stitutional freedom.  Give  me  the  right  of  trial  by  a 
jury  of  my  own  neighbors,  and  to  be  taxed  by  my  own 
representatives  only.  What  will  become  of  the  law  and 
courts  of  justice  without  this  ?  The  shadow  may  remain, 
but  the  substance  will  be  gone.  I  would  die  to  preserve 
the  law  upon  a  solid  foundation ;  but  take  away  liberty, 
and  the  foundation  is  destroyed." 

A  short  time  after,*  a  reply  followed,  entitled  "A 
View  of  the  Controversy,  by  a  Westchester  Farmer," 
marked  with  still  greater  asperity  than  the  former,  and 
pressing  its  object  with  new  arguments.  The  inertness 
of  the  colony  is  shown,  to-  prove  the  narrow  circle  of 
factious  principles  ;  the  right  of  legislation  in  the  colonies 
is  denied,  on  inferences  drawn  from  the  tenor  of  the 
colonial  charters;  the  effect  of  an  embargo,  to  sever 
from  them  their  English  friends,  is  alleged  ;  the  dangers 
of  a  civil  war  strongly  deprecated,  and  a  remedy  pro- 

*  January  5,  1775. 


/E-r.   18.J  HAMILTON.  69 

posed  of  vesting  in  parliament  the  enactment  of  general 
laws,  reserving  to  the  legislatures  the  mere  right  of  tax- 
ation. 

Within  a  month,*  this  paper  was  followed  by  a  more 
elaborate  answer,  of  seventy-eight  pages,  entitled  "  The 
Farmer  Refuted  ;  or,  a  more  Comprehensive  and  Impar- 
tial View  of  the  Disputes  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
Colonies,  intended  as  a  Further  Vindication  of  the  Con- 
gress, in  answer  to  a  Letter  from  A  W.  Farmer,  entitled 
A  View  of  the  Controversy  between  Great  Britain  and 
her  Colonies,  including  a  Mode  of  determining  the  Pres- 
ent Disputes  finally  and  effectually,  &c.  By  a  Sincere 
Friend  to  America.  Tituli  Remedia  pollicentur,  sed  Pyx- 
ides ipsae  venena  continent.  The  title  promises  Reme- 
dies, but  the  Box  itself  poisons.  Printed  by  James  Riv- 
ington.  1775." 

The  author  of  "  The  Congress  Canvassed  "  had  spoken 
of  the  measures  of  the  Congress  as  tending  to  resolve  so- 
ciety into  its  elementary  principles,  and  reduce  it  to  a  state 
of  nature.  His  "  Refuter  "  compares  his  idea  of  a  state  of 
nature  with  that  of  Hobbes,  that  moral  obligation  is  con- 
ventional, and  virtue  purely  artificial ;  denying  the  exist- 
ence and  supremacy  of  a  Deity.  "For,"  he  says,  "to 
grant  that  there  is  a  Supreme  Intelligence  who  rules  the 
world,  and  has  established  laws  to  regulate  the  actions^f 
his  creatures,  and  still  to  assert  that  men  are  in  a  staae  of 
nature,  may  be  considered  as  perfectly  free  from  all  re- 
straints of  law  and  government,  appear  to  a  common\un- 
derstanding  altogether  irreconcilable."  He  then  gives  a 
just  and  philosophical  definition  of  "  natural  rights,"  and 
deduces  from  them  the  rights  of  the  colonies,  in  contradis- 
tinction to  the  rights  of  parliament.  Assuming  the  position, 
'.hat  the  principle  of  colonial  connection  is  by  grant  from 

*  February  5,  1775. 


70  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1775. 

the  crown,  he  distinguishes  between  the  allegiance  due  to 
a  common  sovereign,  and  the  authority  of  the  commons, 
which  is  commensurate  only  with  the  sphere  of  their  elec- 
tion ;  and  admitting  the  incidental  power  of  parliament 
over  the  colonies  as  derived  from  their  consent,  he  shows 
that  the  extent  of  that  consent  is  the  only  just  measure  of 
their  authority.  The  true  principles  of  free  government 
implying  a  share  in  legislation  : — "  You  are  mistaken,"  he 
says,  "  when  you  confine  arbitrary  government  to  a  mon- 
archy. It  is  not  the  supreme  power  being  placed  in  one 
instead  of  many,  that  discriminates  an  arbitrary  from  a 
free  government.  When  any  people  are  ruled  by  laws  in 
framing  which  they  have  no  part,  that  are  to  bind  them 
to  all  intents  and  purposes,  without  in  the  same  manner 
binding  the  legislature  themselves,  they  are,  in  the  strict- 
est sense,  slaves,  and  the  government,  with  respect  to 
them,  is  despotic ;  and  hence  the  authority  of  parliament 
over  the  colonies  would  in  all  probability  be  a  more  intol- 
erable and  excessive  species  of  despotism  than  the  most 
absolute  monarchy,  as  the  temptation  to  abuse  would  be 
greater."  He  contends  that  the  right  of  colonial  legisla- 
tion is  an  inherent  right,  "  and  that  the  foundation  of  the 
English  constitution  rests  upon  the  principle,  that  laws 
have  no  validity  without  the  consent  of  the  people." 
"  Natural  liberty  is  a  gift  of  the  beneficent  Creator  to  the 
whole  human  race ;  civil  liberty  is  founded  on  it ;  civil 
liberty  is  only  natural  liberty,  modified  and  secured  by 
civil  society."  In  answer  to  the  inferences,  from  the 
charters,  he  proceeds  to  a  survey  of  the  political  history 
of  the  colonies,  and  proves  from  the  terms  of  the  charters 
that  the  idea  of  parliamentary  supremacy  is  excluded,  arid 
an  express  exemption  reserved  from  duties  on  exports  and 
imports.  In  confirmation  of  the  sense  of  the  crown  on 
this  question,  he  adverts  to  the  historical  facts,  that  when 


MT.  18.]  HAMILTON.  71 

a  bill  to  give  to  British  subjects  the  privilege  of  fishing  on 
the  American  coast  was  introduced  into  the  House  of 
Commons,  it  was  announced  from  the  throne  "  that  Amer- 
ica was  not  annexed  to  the  realm,  and  that  it  was  not  fit- 
ting that  parliament  should  make  laws  for  those  coun- 
tries." And,  that  in  a  succeeding  reign  the  royal  assent 
was  refused  to  a  similar  bill,  on  the  ground  "that  the 
colonies  were  out  of  the  realm  and  jurisdiction  of  parlia- 
ment ; "  that  on  the  passage  of  the  first  act  to  impose 
duties,  it  was  opposed  in  Virginia,  and,  to  satisfy  that  high 
spirited  colony,  a  declaration  was  given  under  the  privy 
seal,  "  that  taxes  ought  not  to  be  laid  without  the  consent 
of  the  general  assembly."  Canvassing  carefully  each 
successive  charter,  he  shows,  that  the  common  principle 
extends  through  them  all,  and  that  a  different  doctrine  is 
contrary  to  "THE  SACRED  RIGHTS  OF  MANKIND,  WHICH 
ARE  NOT  TO  BE  RUMMAGED  FOR  AMONG  OLD  PARCHMENTS, 
OR  MUSTY  RECORDS:  THEY  ARE  WRITTEN,  AS  WITH  A' SUN- 
BEAM, IN  THE  WHOLE  VOLUME  OF  HUMAN  NATURE,  BY  THE 
HAND  OF  THE  DlVINITY  ITSELF,  AND  CAN  NEVER  BE  ERASED 
OR  OBSCURED  BY  MORTAL  POWER." 

Having  closed  the  argument  against  the  authority  of 
parliament,  as  founded  either  on  the  British  constitution, 
the  natural  rights  of  man,  or  the  several  charters  of  the 
colony,  he  admits  their  right  to  regulate  trade,  but  as  a 
right  "  conceded  "  to  them  by  the  colonies,  and  only  to  be 
exercised  on  principles  which  induced  the  concession, 
common  to  all  the  subjects  of  the  realm. 

Pursuing  the  argument  of  his  adversary,  he  again  vin- 
dicates the  proceedings  of  Congress ;  and  after  reciting 
the  successive  acts  of  usurpation,  and  the  inefficacy  of 
petitions,  from  the  fact  that  parliament  had  never  aban- 
doned the  rig-Jit  of  taxation,  remarks,  that  the  violence  of 
the  ministry  demanded  the  adoption  of  efficacious  meas- 


72  THE    KEPUBLIC.  [1775. 

ures  as  our  only  security.  After  eloquently  picturing 
the  blockade  of  Boston,  which  led  to  the  convention  of 
Congress,  he  thus  replies  to  its  alleged  illegality  : — "  When 
the  first  principles  of  civil  society  are  violated,  and  the 
rights  of  a  whole  people  are  invaded,  the  common  forms 
of  municipal  law  are  not  to  be  regarded.  Men  may  then 
betake  themselves  to  the  law  of  nature ;  and  if  they  but 
conform  their  actions  to  that  standard,  all  cavils  against 
them  betray  either  ignorance  or  dishonesty.  There  are 
some  events  in  society  to  which  human  laws  cannot  ex- 
tend ;  but  when  applied  to  them,  lose  all  their  force  and 
efficacy.  In  short,  when  human  laws  contradict  or  dis- 
countenance the  means  which  are  necessary  to  preserve 
the  essential  rights  of  any  society,  they  defeat  the  proper 
end  of  all  laws,  and  so  become  null  and  void." 

After  an  able  sketch  of  the  commercial  relations  of 
the  two  countries,  he  shows  the  means  of  self-dependence, 
and  confuting  his  antagonist,  who  had  ridiculed  the  im- 
potence of  resistance,  meets  him  on  the  broad  ground  of 
arms  and  independence :  confidently  affirms  the  ability  to 
support  their  freedom,  and  by  a  system  of  protracted 
warfare,  with  the  aid  of  foreign  succor,  to  weary  out  the 
mother  country,  and  exhaust  her  strength. 

The  following  extracts  show  how  far,  at  this  early  age, 
he  anticipated  their  future  resources  : — "  With  respect  to 
cotton,  you  do  not  pretend  to  deny  that  a  sufficient  quan- 
tity of  that  may  be  produced.  Several  of  the  southern 
colonies  are  so  favorable  to  it,  that,  with  due  cultivation, 
in  a  couple  of  years  they  would  afford  enough  to  clothe 
the  whole  continent.  As  to  the  expense  of  bringing  it  by 
land,  the  best  way  will  be  to  manufacture  it  where  it 
grows,  and  afterwards  transport  it  to  the  other  colonies. 
Upon  this  plan,  I  apprehend,  the  expense  would  not  be 
greater  than  to  build  and  equip  large  ships  to  import  the 


^ET.  18.]  HAMILTON.  73 

manufactures  of  Great  Britain  from  thence.  If  we  were 
to  turn  our  attention  from  external  to  internal  commerce, 
we  would  give  greater  stability  and  more  lasting  prosper- 
ity to  our  country  than  she  can  possibly  have  otherwise. 
We  should  not  then  import  the  vices  and  luxuries  of  for- 
eign climes,  nor  should  we  make  hasty  strides  to  public 
corruption  and  depravity.  Those  obstacles,  which  to  the 
eye  of  timidity  and  apprehension  appear  like  the  Alps,  to 
the  hand  of  resolution  and  perseverance  become  mere 
hillocks."  In  reference  to  the  mode  of  conducting  the 
war,  he  remarks :  "  Let  it  be  remembered  there  are  no 
large  plains  for  the  two  armies  to  meet  in  and  decide  the 
contest  by  some  decisive  stroke,  where  any  advantage 
gained  by  either  side  must  be  prosecuted,  till  a  complete 
victory  is  obtained.  The  circumstances  of  our  country 
put  it  in  our  power  to  evade  a  pitched  battle.  It  will  be 
better  policy  to  harass  and  exhaust  the  soldiery  by  fre- 
quent skirmishes  and  incursions,  than  to  take  the  open 
field  with  them,  by  which  means  they  would  have  the  full 
benefit  of  their  superior  regularity  and  skill.  Americans 
are  better  qualified  for  that  kind  of  fighting,  which  is 
most  adapted  to  the  country,  than  regular  troops :  should 
the  soldiery  advance  into  the  country,  as  they  would  be 
obliged  to  do,  if  they  had  any  inclination  to  subdue  us, 
their  discipline  would  be  of  little  use  to  them.  Whatever 
may  be  said  of  the  disciplined  troops  of  Britain,  the  event 
of  the  contest  must  be  extremely  doubtful.  There  is  a 
certain  enthusiasm  in  liberty,  that  makes  human  nature 
rise  above  itself  in  acts  of  bravery  and  heroism."  The 
probability  of  foreign  succor  is  adduced  from  the  strong 
motives  of  a  free  trade  with  America,  of  weakening 
Great  Britain  and  of  increased  strength.  "  Superadd- 
ed,"  he  remarks,  "to  these  general  and  prevailing  induce- 
ments, there  are  others  of  a  more  particular  nature. 


74  THE   EEPUBLIC.  [1775.. 

They  would  feel  no  small  inconvenience  in  the  loss  of 
those  supplies  they  annually  get  from  us,  and  their  islands 
would  be  in  the  greatest  distress  for  the  want  of  our 
trade.  From  these  reflections  it  is  more  than  probable, 
that  America  is  able  to  support  its  freedom,  even  by  the 
force  of  arms,  if  she  be  not  betrayed  by  her  own  sons." 

The  firm,  confident  temper  manifested  in  these  pam- 
phlets and  the  ardent  love  of  liberty  they  exhibited,  gave 
them  a  rapid  and  extensive  popularity.  They  were  im- 
mediately appealed  to  by  the  Whigs  as  triumphant  de- 
fences of  their  opinions  and  conduct.  Who  is  the  au- 
thor ?  was  the  inquiry.  "  They  were  judged  to  be  so 
masterly  as  to  create  a  general  belief  in  the  Tory  circles 
that  Jay  was  the  author,"  but  when  they  were  ascertained 
to  be  the  productions  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  a  youth 
about  eighteen,  a  student  in  the  college  and  new  to  the 
country,  admiration  of  them  was  lost  in  surprise  at  the 
discovery.  By  many  it  was  doubted.  "  Doctor  Cooper," 
Troup  relates,  "  assured  me  he  had  no  doubt  the  answers 
were  from  Jay's  pen ;  and  he  ridiculed  the  idea  of  their 
having  been  written  by  such  a  stripling  as  Hamilton.  I 
well  knew  the  contrary,  as  Hamilton  wrote  the  answers 
when  he  and  1  occupied  the  same  room  in  college,  and  I 
read  them  before  they  were  sent  to  the  press."  * 

Hamilton  was  at  once  regarded  as  a  prodigy  of  intel- 
lect. "  Sir,"  said  the  gallant  Willet,  "  Sears  was  a  warm 
man,  but  with  little  reflection ;  McDougall  was  strong- 
minded,  and  Jay,  appearing  to  fall  in  with  the  measures  of 
Sears,  tempered  and  controlled  them ;  but  Hamilton, 
after  these  great  writings,  became  our  oracle." 

The  importance  of  gaining  such  an  adversary  was 
felt  by  the  friends  of  the  crown ;  and  it  is  related  that  a 
most  liberal  offer  was  tendered  to  Hamilton  by  Cooper,  if 

*  Letter  of  Colonel  Troup,  March  31,  1828. 


&t.  18.]  HAMILTON.  75 

lie  would  consent  to  write  in  behalf  of  the  ministry.     It 
is  unnecessary  to  say  it  was  rejected. 

When  the  vigor  and  terseness  of  style ;  the  mass  of 
information  ;  the  closeness  of  reasoning  ;  the  happy  exhi- 
bition of  the  weak  points  of  his  antagonist ;  the  clear 
perception  and  exposition  of  the  principles  of  political 
liberty ;  the  discrimination  between  the  rejected  and 
scarcely  conceded  power  of  Parliament ;  and  the  compre- 
hensive and  prophetic  view  taken  of  the  great  questions 
then  discussed,  involving  the  destiny  of  the  American 
people  and  the  cause  of  liberty  throughout  the  world,  are 
well  considered ;  these  pamphlets  will  be  acknowledged 
to  have  merits  of  which  a  practised,  philosophic  states- 
man might  be  proud.  Regarded  as  the  productions  of 
such  a  youth,  the  wonder  they  excited  is  not  a  source  of 
surprise. 

During  these  discussions,  in  the  first  month  of  the  new 
year,  the  New  York  assembly  again  met.  The  preceding 
assembly  had  granted  a  supply  to  the  troops,  and  the  only 
evidence  given  of  sympathy  with  their  patriotic  constit- 
uents was  the  appointment  of  a  committee  of  correspond- 
ence as  to  the  rights  of  the  colonies. 

Tryon  having,  since  its  adjournment,  returned  to  Eu- 
rope, the  executive  chair  was  again  filled  by  Golden.  His 
tone  was  subdued.  He  lamented  the  disordered  state  of 
the  colony,  and  commended  to  the  assembly  a  calm  ex- 
amination of  the  existing  discontents. 

The  opposition  was  still  led  by  two  men  of  determined 
resolution — Philip  Schuyler  and  George  Clinton — who, 
together  with  John  Jay,  were  the  leading  patriots  of  New 
York. 

When  the  importance  of  the  concurrence  of  this  pro- 
vince, and  the  embarrassments  they  encountered  are  taken 
into  view,  contending  at  the  same  time  with  the  whole 


70  THE    KEPUBLIC.  [1775. 

influence  of  the  ministry,  with  the  power  of  the  colonial 
government  adroitly  exerted,  a  large  body  of  its  wealthy 
proprietors  actively  co-operating  with  the  timid  part  of 
the  mercantile  community,  amid  a  divided  population  and 
distracted  counsels,  it  is  difficult  to  measure  the  value 
of  their  services. 

The  first  of  these,  Colonel  Schuyler,  had  been  a  par- 
tisan officer  in  the  war  of  seventeen  hundred  and  fifty- 
six.  By  his  fertility  of  resource  and  unyielding  firmness, 
he  rendered  distinguished  services  to  the  British  com- 
mander,* who  fell,  lamented,  by  his  side,  and  to  him  the 
honor  of  his  interment  was  confided.  Descended  from 
one  of  the  early  Dutch  settlers  of  this  province,  the  in- 
fluence and  respectability  of  whose  family  had  been 
transmitted  through  successive  generations,  he  exercised 
an  almost  unrivalled  sway  over  the  minds  of  a  people, 
whose  frontier  position  had  demanded  the  frequent  exer- 
tion of  all  their  energies. 

Possessed  of  great  wealth,  he  embarked  it  in  the  con- 
test, as  a  pledge  of  his  patriotism,  and,  in  the  course  of 
the  Revolution,  sacrificed  as  much  of  fortune  and  of  feel- 
ing, as  any  other  individual  in  America. 

Party  to  the  most  secret  councils  of  the  continent,  he 
had  staked  every  thing  on  the  issue  of  the  conflict,  and 
had  acquired  a  weight  of  influence  which  led  both  Vir- 
ginia and  Massachusetts  to  regard  him  as  the  connecting 
link  in  the  high  purposes  at  which  they  aimed.  "  On  the 
shoulders  of  this  great  man,"  said  Judge  Benson,  "  the 
conduct  of  New  York  rested." 

His  love  of  fame  was  less  than  his  love  of  country ; 
and  when  the  misadventures  of  some  robbed  him  of  the 
glory  to  which  he  was  entitled,  and  while  artifice  withheld 
from  him  an  opportunity  of  vindication,  he  is  not  seen  in- 

*  Lori  I" owe. 


yEx.  18.]  HAMILTON.  77 

dulging  in  invidious  comments  on  the  successes  of  others, 
but  continuing  within  the  sphere  of  his  great  influence 
and  resources,  to  advance  the  cause  of  his  early  prefer- 
ence. Thus,  his  strength  of  character  sustained  him 
when  other  men  sink,  and  his  adversity  gave  him  more 
true  honor  than  he  could  have  derived  from  success. 
Sullied  by  no  private  vices,  and  misled  by  no  small  pas- 
sions, his  path  through  life  was  high,  unspotted,  equal ; 
and  he  died  with  a  reputation,  which  those  who  knew  and 
followed  him,  have  contended  to  perpetuate. 

Sprung  from  a  family  of  Irish  descent,  which  counted 
among  their  ancestry  a  gallant  officer  of  the  cavaliers 
wrho  fell  with  Charles  the  First, — George  Clinton,  in  a 
nobler  cause,  displayed  the  perseverance  of  his  blooo. 

In  early  youth  he  broke  from  the  thrall  of  parental 
authority,  and  exchanged  for  his  father's  house,  a  berth  on 
board  of  a  privateer,  in  which  he  made  a  cruise  during 
the  French  war.  He  is  next  seen  in  service  with  his 
father  and  brother,  in  an  attack  which  resulted  in  the 
capture  of  Frontignac.  He  then  became  a  lawyer,  and 
was  placed  soon  after  in  that  sphere  in  which  he  was  the 
associate  of  Schuyler,  in  opposition  to  the  influence  of  the 
crown.  Transferred  by  the  popular  choice  to  the  conti- 
nental Congress,  he  took  part  in  the  measures  of  seven- 
teen hundred  seventy-five  and  seventeen  hundred  seven- 
ty-six, and  on  the  formation  of  the  constitution  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  was  chosen  its  governor,  and  filled 
that  station  during  a  period  of  eighteen  years.  On  the 
first  call  to  arms,  he  was  appointed  a  brigadier-general, 
and  during  the  most  trying  years  of  the  war  commanded 
in  the  Highlands,  and  held  the  keys  of  that  natural  cita- 
del. In  perseverance,  and  love  of  liberty,  he  was  not  less 
distinguished  than  his  great  compatriot ;  but  in  the  modes 
of  attaining  their  objects,  and  in  their  political  views. 


78  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1775. 

they  were  most  unlike.  By  Schuyler,  the  declaration  of 
independence  was  regarded  but  as  the  first  step  towards 
the  creation  of  a  great  nation,  pledged  to  the  principles 
which  that  instrument  proclaimed.  With  Clinton,  the 
love  of  liberty  was  a  fiercer  passion. 

In  Schuyler,  it  was  a  principle  of  high  benevolence; 
enlarging  with  the  sphere  of  action.  With  Clinton,  it 
was  a  jealousy  of  power,  contracting  and  deforming  the 
object  of  his  adoration.  The  one,  conscious  of  his  own 
imperfections,  regarded  mankind  with  a  kindred  feeling, 
as  full  of  weaknesses  from  which  they  were  to  be  pro- 
tected. The  other,  with  a  profound  knowledge  of  human 
nature,  and  consummate  talents  for  popularity,  looked 
more  to  the  passions  of  men,  as  a  field  from  which  could 
be  gathered  a  store  of  influence  for  his  own  advance- 
ment. The  one  aided  in  building  up  the  constitution  of 
the  United  States  on  the  basis  of  a  firm  and  perpetual 
union.  The  other,  had  he  prevailed,  would  have  doomed 
them  to  perpetual  anarchy. 

John  Jay,  younger  than  either,  was  educated  for  the 
bar,  and  had  acquired  celebrity  in  his  profession.  His 
father,  the  descendant  of  a  persecuted  Huguenot,  estab- 
lished himself  in  the  vicinity  of  New-Rochelle,  where, 
surrounded  by  a  small  community  who  traced  their  origin 
and  their  adversities  to  the  same  source,  he  pursued  an 
agricultural  life,  and  preserved  all  the  simplicity  of  habits 
and  purity  of  character,  which  had  been  cultivated  by 
the  Protestants  in  France,  amid  the  various  vicissitudes  of 
their  fortunes.  Educated  in  such  a  school,  he  espoused 
the  cause  of  liberty  with  an  ardor  equalled  by  the  zeal 
with  which  he  defended  it,  and  soon  acquired  the  ascend- 
ency, to  which  his  probity,  and  the  soundness  of  his  under- 
standing, entitled  him. 

By  some,  his  jealousy  of  error  was  supposed  to  have 


fflT.18.]  HAMILTON.  79 

run  into  a  proneness  to  suspicion ;  and  his  strict  adher- 
ence to  right  to  have  bordered  on  severity  ;  but  the  basis 
of  his  character  was  a  lofty  virtue  and  manly  self-depend- 
ence. Elevated  by  these  qualities  in  the  public  confi- 
dence, he  rose  to  some  of  the  highest  stations  in  the  civil 
branch  of  the  government,  and  long  shone  conspicuous 
among  the  great  lights  which  ushered  this  nation  into 
existence, — a  pure,  consistent,  unyielding  patriot. 

Sustained  by  the  ardent  feelings  of  the  other  colonies, 
the  exertions  of  these  men  to  secure  the  concert  of  the 
government  of  New  York  were  unremitting,  but  vain. 
The  majority  of  the  assembly  would  not  be  diverted  from 
their  servile  counsels,  although  their  efforts  towards  con- 
ciliation had  been  treated  by  the  ministry  with  contumely 
and  neglect. 

Though  such  was  the  temper  of  this  body,  there  was 
in  New  York  a  mass  and  vigor  of  resistance  which  could 
be  neither  soothed  nor  swayed ;  which  favor  could  not 
allure  nor  danger  appal ;  single  of  purpose,  clear  of  view, 
enduring  unto  the  end.  While  from  England  were  chiefly 
derived  those  well-defined  and  grave  opinions  of  liberty 
that  enter  so  largely  into  the  character  of  the  American 
mind ;  yet  it  was  a  school  in  which  religious  and  po- 
litical passions  and  prejudices  widely  ruled.  The  descend- 
ant of  the  cavalier  was  still  an  admirer  of  the  social  dis- 
tinctions which  existed  there,  and  of  the  ecclesiastic  ex- 
clusiveness  which  almost  governed.  The  puritan,  himself 
an  object  of  proscription,  was  in  his  mood  and  practice 
prescriptive  as  to  religious  thought ;  jealous,  and  not  a 
little  arbitrary,  as  to  political  opinion. 

The  existence,  therefore,  in  the  midway  of  the  Amer- 
ican colonies  of  a  race  of  more  positive  views,  free  from 
the  influences  of  prescription,  familiar  only  with  the  sim- 
plest notions  of  freedom,  applying  those  notions  less  to 


80  THE   EEPCJBLIC.  [1775. 

political  philosophy  and  more  to  the  practical  interests  of 
society,  whose  religion  itself  was  almost  comprised  in  the 
single  idea,  of  confidence  in  God  against  the  tyranny  of 
man,  was  of  great  moment. 

Among  such  a  people,  the  popular  sentiment,  though 
less  refined,  would  have  a  broader,  fuller,  quicker,  stronger 
growth.  Free  from  mutual  jealousies,  for  there  were 
among  themselves  no  objects  of  jealousy — ready  to  con- 
fide, for  their  confidence  could  only  be  obtained  by  meri- 
torious service ;  looking  to  the  good  of  the  whole,  for  it 
was  a  good  in  which  each  felt  he  would  share  ;  not  averse 
to  general,  comprehensive  ideas,  for  these  were  of  a  nature 
to  command  their  attention  and  respect — they  were  the 
compatriots  of  GROTIUS — the  world's  man — an  exile  for 
the  world's  great  truths  ;  and  ready  to  act  upon  them,  for 
they  conflicted  with  no  local  interests  or  preconceived 
opinions,  but  were  a  part,  and  a  chief  part,  of  the  very 
strength  upon  which  wisdom  would  desire  to  build  the 
foundations  of  an  empire,  not  content  with  two  oceans  as 
its  bounds. 

Encouraged  by  success,  for  the  UNITED  PROVINCES  in 
all  their  successes  were  before  them, — nor  was  the  past  to 
them  more  than  a  promise, — they  had  broken  suddenly 
and  for  ever  from  ancient  ties.  Holland  was  an  object 
of  affectionately  proud  remembrance,  but  it  was  not  Hol- 
land because  governed  by  a  line  of  princes  they  revered, 
but  Holland  emancipated  from  tyranny  by  the  courage  of 
her  own  offspring,  and  holding  forth  her  free  hand  to  the 
commerce  and  friendship  of  the  world.  The  descendants 
of  the  Dutch  had  grown  in  number  relatively  with  the 
other  growths  of  population.*  They  were  found  through- 

*  The  total  population  of  this  colony  in  1774  was  168,007 — of  the  city  of 
New  York,  whites,  18,726 ;  of  Albany,  whites,  38,829.  The  poptJation  had 
doubled  in  twenty  years. 


JET.  18.]  HAMILTON.  81 

out  the  colony,*  but  in  small  communities,  not  losing  their 
identity.  Appeals  to  them  were  therefore  made,  and  an- 
swered with  instant  effect.  These  appeals  were  the  more 
effective  because  the  subjects  of  them  were  few,  and  of 
primary  importance. 

Upon  this  solid  base  of  concentrated  thought  and  feel- 
ing, Schuyler  stood,  their  representative.  Nor  were 
other  supports  wanting.  The  Scotch,  the  French,  the 
Irish,  the  German  races  all  warmly  concurred,  beholding 
the  majestic  but  abused  power  of  Great  Britain  with 
cherished  hate. 

In  despite  of  the  influences  known  to  prevail  in  tho 
assembly,  Schuyler  resolved  that  this  session  should  not 
pass  without  making  the  issue  with  the  people  distinct 
and  irrevocable.  The  address  to  the  lieutenant-governoi 
expressed  a  willingness  to  pursue  the  most  probablj 
means  to  obtain  a  redress  of  grievances.  What  wero 
these  means?  Petitions  and  remonstrances,  or  limited 
measures  of  opposition  ?  To  bring  the  matter  to  a  test, 
a  motion  was  made  to  consider  the  proceedings  of  Con- 
gress. It  was  defeated  by  a  single  vote.  Thanks  to  the 
delegates  were  proffered.  They  were  rejected  by  a  larger 
vote.  A  proposal  to  appoint  delegates  to  the  second  Con- 
gress met  with  the  same  fate  by  a  still  larger  vote.  Next 
thanks  were  proposed  to  the  merchants  for  the  non-im- 
portation association.  This  also  was  lost.  Thus  there 
was  to  be  no  opposition  to  the  arbitrary  enactments  of 
Great  Britain. 

The  report  of  the  committee  on  grievances  was  taken 
up  in  course.  Schuyler,  with  his  tall,  manly  form,  bee- 
tling brow,  and  kindling  eye,  then  came  forward,  and  in- 
troduced a  resolution  condemning,  in  earnest,  explicit 

*  In  the  list  of  militia  officers,  Dutch  names  are  found  in  every  county, 
though  fewest  in  those  of  Long  Islan1. 

VOL.  I.— 6 


82  THE   KEPUBLIC.  [1775. 

terms,  the  several  obnoxious  acts  of  parliament.  In  this 
he  prevailed.  A  resolution  was  next  offered  by  Delan- 
cey,  declaring,  with  all  deferential  allegiance,  the  right 
of  parliament  to  regulate  the  trade  of  the  colonies,  and 
to  impose  duties  on  any  imports  that  may  interfere  with 
the  products  of  his  majesty's  dominions.  It  passed, 
Schuyler  and  Clinton  voting  in  the  negative.  An  amend- 
ment was  then  moved  by  Schuyler,  to  exclude  "  every 
idea  of  taxation,  internal  or  external,  for  the  purpose  of 
raising  a  revenue,"  by  the  king,  "  on  his  subjects  in  Amer- 
ica without  their  consent."  It  was  defeated  by  the  pre- 
vious question.  By  these  successive  moves  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  late  Congress  were  marshalled  in  review. 
The  vote  condemning  the  Boston  Port  Bill,  and  the  act 
violating  the  charter  of  Massachusetts,  were  carried  in  a 
thin  house  by  a  majority  of  two.  A  request  that  the  co- 
lonial judges  should  be  appointed  during  good  behavior, 
as  in  England,  not  during  the  pleasure  of  the  king,  was 
rejected.  Schuyler  now  moved  a  declaration,  that  "  our 
commotions  are  honest  struggles  for  maintaining  our  con- 
stitutional liberty,  and  not  dictated  by  a  desire  of  inde- 
pendence." This  also  was  defeated  by  a  large  majority. 
He  then  proposed  an  amendment  to  the  petition  to  the 
king,  "  although  your  majesty's  subjects  have,  in  some  in- 
stances, submitted  to  the  power  exercised  by  the  parent 
state,  they  nevertheless  consider  themselves  entitled  to  an 
equal  participation  of  freedom  with  their  fellow-subjects 
in  Great  Britain."  Even  this  was  lost  by  a  similar  vote. 
The  several  adopted  resolves  were  embodied  in  a  petition 
to  the  Lords  and  to  the  Commons,  toned  down  to  accord 
with  the  feelings  of  the  majority,  and  were  transmitted  to 
Edmund  Burke. 

On  the  third  of  April  the  colonial  assembly  adjourned, 
never  to  meet  again. 


Mr.  18.]  HAMILTON.  S3 

No  option  remained  to  the  patriots.  Redress  was  not 
to  be  obtained  through  what  claimed  to  be  the  legitimate 
assembly,  yet  redress  must  be  had.  The  people  must  be 
represented.  A  new  popular  committee  had  been  formed, 
and  during  the  session  of  the  assembly  a  public  meeting 
was  called  to  consider  of  the  mode  of  electing  delegates 
to  the  second  Congress. 

The  ultra  loyalists  objected  to  tne  measure,  for  the 
assembly  had  rejected  a  proposition  to  that  effect.  Their 
vote  ought  to  be  decisive. 

On  the  appointed  day,  the  meeting  assembled  at  the 
Liberty  Pole-,  and  under  a  banner  inscribed  with  the 
words,  "  Constitutional  Liberty,"  moved  in  procession  to 
the  Exchange. 

The  ministerial  party,  with  several  of  the  members  of 
the  council  at  their  head,  the  leaders  of  the  majority  in 
the  assembly,  a  few  officers  of  the  army,  navy,  and  cus- 
toms, appeared  in  a  compact  body.  There  were  symp- 
toms of  an  affray,  but  quiet  was  preserved,  by  a  conscious 
sense  of  the  strength  of  the  good  cause ;  and  a  resolution 
was  passed  to  choose  deputies  to  a  convention  of  the  colo- 
ny, to  elect  delegates  to  the  Congress.  The  election  was 
held,  and  by  an  immense  majority  the  popular  movement 
succeeded.  Notice  of  this  result  was  given  to  the  other 
counties.  A  provincial  congress  of  forty  members  was 
chosen,  who  met  on  the  twentieth  of  April,  and  appointed 
delegates  to  the  general  Congress.  Thus  New  York,  the 
head-quarters  of  its  army,  the  future  archiepiscopal  see ; 
her  college  intended  to  be  the  university  of  North  Amer- 
ica, her  library,  founded  by  private  munificence,*  called 
the  "  Union  Society  Library,"  all  indicating  it  as  the  con- 
templated seat  of  its  western  empire,  was  wrested  from 
the  crown,  to  fulfil  a  higher  destiny. 

*  Charles  Ward  Apthorp  was  a  chief  promoter. 


84  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1775. 

A  meeting,  over  which  Lamb  and  Willett  presided,  men 
who  proceeded  from  words  to  actions,  was  again  held  in 
the  city.  Its  object  was  to  stop  supplies  for  the  troops 
near  Boston.  This  was  effected  ;  and  with  a  clear  vision 
of  the  near  future,  Sears,  who  had  been  displaced  from  a 
small  office  in  punishment  of  his  zeal,  proposed  that  the 
people  provide  themselves  with  arms  and  ammunition. 
This  was  agreed  to.  Sears  was  arrested  for  imputed  trea- 
son, and  carried  before  the  mayor.  Refusing  to  give  bail, 
he  was  committed ;  but  the  people  wrested  their  bold  leader 
from  the  officers.  He  passed  in  triumph  through  the  city.* 

Not  less  expressive  indications  of  the  popular  feeling 
were  given  elsewhere.  In  his  own  county  of  Fairfax 
WASHINGTON  presided.  Resolutions  were  then  adopted 
to  raise  money  by  poll,  to  be  handed  to  a  committee  with 
a  list  of  those  refusing  to  subscribe  ;  and  all  the  freemen 
of  Virginia  between  the  ages  of  sixteen  and  fifty  were 
invited  to  form  themselves  into  companies,  and  to  exercise 
themselves  in  arms. 

The  provincial  congress  of  Massachusetts  took  the 
same  measure,  urging  also  the  manufacture  of  arms,  in 
which  Connecticut  likewise  promptly  engaged. 

Never  were  a  people  more  patiently  loyal  than  were  a 
large  majority  of  the  British  American  colonists.  All 
their  affections  and  all  their  pride  had  been  associated 
with  the  welfare  and  with  the  glory  of  England.  They 
discriminated  between  a  great  and  glorious  people,  with 
whom  there  is  still  every  motive  to  cultivate  amicable  and 
liberal  relations,  and  the  policy  of  rulers  who  did  not 
represent  the  real  sentiments  of  the  people.  Thus  they 
yearned  for  an  accommodation  of  the  disputes,  and  were 
waiting  anxiously  for  tidings  of  the  course  of  the  govern- 
ment at  home. 

*  Life  of  John  Lamb,  100,  101. 


.Er.  18.]  HAMILTON.  85 

,  *  The  parliament  which  had  passed  the  offensive  laws 
had  been  dissolved.  A  new  parliament  was  to  meet  in 
January  of  this  year.  In  that  great  arena  of  freedom  its 
honest  voice  might  yet  prevail.  Pitt,  now  Lord  Chat- 
ham, proposed  an  address  at  the  opening  of  its  session, 
asking  the  recall  of  the  troops  near  Boston,  as  the  first 
step  in  a  course  of  conciliation.  The  first  advance,  he 
said,  should  corne  from  them.  The  objectionable  acts 
should  be  repealed.  In  a  lofty  tone  the  ministry  replied, 
coercion  is  unavoidable.  If  ever,  now,  Parliament  must 
assert  its  supremacy.  This  not  sustained,  all  is  given  up. 
The  opposition  denounced  the  Boston  port  bill  as  a  wan- 
ton tyranny.  The  claim  of  supremacy,  they  averred, 
was  to  gratify  national  pride,  and  to  delude  Parliament 
and  the  people.  Their  efforts  were  fruitless.  The  mo- 
tion was  defeated  by  a  large  vote.*  Petitions  from  Lon- 
don and  from  the  great  towns  produced  acrimonious 
debates,  but  led  to  no  result.  The  petition  of  the  Conti- 
nental Congress  was  stigmatized  as  the  act  of  an  "  illegal 
body."  The  Commons  voted  it  down  by  an  immense  ma- 
jority.f 

On  the  first  of  February,  Chatham,  bowed  under 
physical  infirmities,  introduced  a  conciliatory  bill.  It 
declared  as  a  compromise,  that  no  tax  be  levied  in 
America  without  the  consent  of  the  colonial  assemblies ; 
asserted  the  right  of  the  king  to  send  his  armies  every 
where  ;  legalized  the  ensuing  session  of  Congress  for  the 
purposes  of  recognizing  the  supreme  legislative  authority 
and  superintending  power  of  Parliament,  and  of  making 
a  free  grant  to  the  king  and  to  his  successors  of  a  certain 
and  perpetual  revenue,  subject  to  their  disposal.  It  re- 
voked the  acts  in  controversy,  and  would  have  secured  to 
the  colonies  all  the  immunities  of  their  charters. 

*  68  to  18.  f  218  to  68- 


36  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1775. 

This  bill  of  compromise  was  not  permitted  even  to 
lie  upon  the  table.  Its  consideration  was  refused  by  a 
vote  of  two  to  one.  Petitions  came  from  the  West  Indies 
praying  an  accommodation.  They  were  disregarded,  and 
the  minister  announced  his  policy.  It  was  to  increase  the 
armed  force,  to  put  an  end  to  the  foreign  trade  of  New 
England,  to  stop  the  fisheries. 

An  address  to  this  effect  was  adopted  in  both  houses 
by  a  vote  of  nearly  two-thirds ;  and  a  law  was  enacted 
to  carry  these  restrictions  into  effect,  in  which  the  other 
colonies,  except  New  York,  were  after  included. 

Edmund  Burke  also  sought  to  effect  a  conciliation. 
He  presented  the  memorial  of  the  loyal  assembly  of 
New  York.  Nothing,  he  observed,  could  be  more  proper 
than  its  tone,  though  all  its  views  might  not  be  incontro- 
vertible. Never  was  there  a  more  fair  opportunity  of 
ending  these  disputes.  It  presented  claims,  was  the  reply, 
inconsistent  with  the  declared  authority  of  Parliament. 
On  that  ground  its  reception  was  refused.* 

The  memorial  to  the  Lords  shared  the  same  fate,  as 
did  petitions  from  the  British  inhabitants  of  Canada  against 
the  bill  altering  the  government  of  that  province. 

Franklin,  as  a  last  hope,  had  been  engaged  in  pre- 
paring "  a  plan  of  permanent  union."  Conferences  were 
held  with  the  ministers  and  modifications  suggested.  The 
Boston  port  bill  might  be  repealed,  but  the  other  acts  re- 
lating to  Massachusetts  were  "improvements  of  her 
constitution,"  and  must  therefore  continue,  "as  well  to 
be  a  standing  example  of  the  power  of  the  Parlia- 
ment ! " 

Finding  every  effort  abortive,  Franklin  returned  to  his 
country,  where  he  was  advised,  that  "  whatever  specious 
pretences  were  offered,  they  were  all  hollow,  and  that  to 

*  186  to  67. 


^ET.  18.]  HAMILTON.  87 

get  a  larger  field  to  fatten  a  herd  of  worthless  parasites 
was  all  that  was  intended."  * 

In  the  long  interval  of  hope  and  doubt,  Boston  had 
well  regarded  the  sage  advice  of  the  first  Congress. 
Without  a  government,  without  the  administration  of  jus- 
tice, the  people  of  the  Bay  State  maintained  order,  rea- 
soned out  their  cause  to  its  just  conclusions,  made  more 
apparent  their  grievous  wrongs,  while  preparing  for  a 
final  issue,  and  counteracting  the  preparatory  measures  of 
General  Gage,  the  British  governor,  and  commander  of 
the  forces.  England  had  passed  a  law  to  prevent  the 
shipment  of  powder  to  America.  She  had  induced  the 
States  General  of  the  United  Provinces  to  issue  a  procla- 
mation forbidding  the  transport  thither  of  all  warlike 
stores.  There  was  a  deposit  of  guns  at  Salem.  Gage 
resolved  to  seize  them.  Troops  were  landed  there,  but 
the  pieces  were  gone.  They  were  followed  until  an  arm 
of  the  sea  was  reached,  and  a  drawbridge  to  be  passed. 
The  draw  was  ordered  to  be  lowered.  The  citizens  re- 
fused as  a  matter  of  legal  right.  The  road  was  private. 
They  had  a  right  to  raise  an  obstruction.  Boats  were 
ordered  to  be  launched.  The  owners  scuttled  them  with 
their  axes.  The  boats  were  their  own  property.  Vio- 
lence was  threatened  by  the  commanding  officer,  and 
blood  would  have  been  shed,  had  not  a  "  minister"  present 
prevailed  upon  his  congregation  to  lower  the  draw.  The 
delay  had  enabled  the  patriots,  of  whom  the  leader  was 
no  less  a  man  than  Timothy  Pickering,  to  carry  off  the 
cannon. 

Stores  were  collected  at  Concord,  twenty  miles  from 
Boston.  Gage,  anxious  to  prevent  hostilities,  decided  to 
destroy  them.  Eight  hundred  grenadiers  and  light  infan- 
try, the  flower  of  the  British  army,  were  ordered  on  this 

*  History  of  Great  Britain,  by  J.  R.  Miller.     Fothergill  to  Franklin. 


88  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1775. 

duty.  They  performed  it.  But  on  their  return,  the  peo- 
ple had  assembled,  and  from  their  coverts  poured  in  upon 
the  retreating  party  a  close,  destructive  fire.  Thus  oc- 
curred what  is  known  as  the  "  Battle  of  Lexington." 

A  general  appeal  to  the  sword  seemed  inevitable. 
And  now  were  seen  the  power  of  the  dissenting  clergy, 
and  the  religious  temperament  of  the  people.  Farewell 
sermons  were  addressed  to  the  militia.  "  Play  the  man 
for  your  country  and  for  the  cities  of  your  God,  and  the 
Lord  do  that  which  seemeth  good,"  was  a  teeming  text. 
The  drums  beat  to  arms,  and,  followed  by  fathers,  mo- 
thers, wives,  sisters  and  children,  the  hardy  yeomanry  of 
New  England  marched  on  to  the  expected  conflict.  As 
they  passed  the  meeting  houses  on  the  Lord's  day  with 
drums  and  fifes  playing,  the  only  question  was,  "Will 
God  be  pleased  with  such  a  breach  of  the  Sabbath  ?  * 

In  New  York  and  in  Philadelphia  the  Presbyterian 
synods  issued  pastoral  letters  suited  to  the  occasion.  The 
lawyers  argued  to  the  people  the  right  of  the  cause ;  and 
the  people,  with  bursts  of  passion,  cried  aloud  "  To  arms." 
In  New  Jersey  the  provincial  treasury  was  taken  posses- 
sion of.  In  Philadelphia  the  shipping  was  embargoed. 
In  Maryland  and  in  Virginia  the  public  arms  were 
seized. 

Trumbull,  governor  of  Connecticut,  wrote  to  Gage ; 
"  Is  there  no  alternative  but  absolute  submission,  or  the 
desolations  of  war  ?  "  and  ordered  the  train  bands  to  their 
duty. 

The  Provincial  Congress  of  Massachusetts  collected 
and  sent  to  England  evidence  to  show  that  the  British 
troops  were  the  aggressors,  asserted  their  loyalty,  ap- 
pealed to  the  clergy  for  their  influence,  and  to  Heaven  as 
10  the  justice  of  their  cause  ;  seized  the  public  money  and 

*  Hist  ColL  Connec.  104. 


^Ei.  18.]  HAMILTON.  89 

raised  and  marched  a  force  to  Boston,  exceeding  in  num- 
ber the  royal  army.  The  skirmish  at  Lexington  was 
announced  to  New  York  in  the  concluding  words  of  a 
letter,  "  The  crimson  fountain  is  opened,  and  God  only 
knew  when  it  would  close."  Tumultuous  menace  and 
execrations  followed.  Patrols  were  formed,  and,  directed 
by  Sears  and  Willett,  took  their  rounds  throughout  the 
night  as  though  an  enemy  were  at  their  doors.  Mobs  as- 
sembled. The  keys  of  the  custom  house  were  taken. 
The  armory  was  broken  open,  and,  dismayed  by  the  irre- 
sistible impetuosity  of  the  populace,  a  battalion  of  the 
royal  troops  surrendered  their  weapons,  and  left  the  city. 

A  committee  of  one  hundred  was  raised.  The  organ- 
ization of  the  militia  was  recommended,  and  an  address 
was  sent  to  the  City  of  London,  stating,  that  "  all  the 
horrors  of  civil  war  will  never  compel  America  to  submit 
to  taxation  by  authority  of  Parliament."  "  The  whole 
country  are  ardently  wishing  peace.  They  are  indefa- 
tigable in  preparing  for  the  last  appeal."* 

Five  days  after,  Crown  Point  and  Ticonderoga  were 
surprised  and  taken  by  a  volunteer  expedition  from  New 
Hampshire  and  Connecticut,  "  in  order,"  as  was  stated, 
"  to  prevent  the  Canadians  and  Indians  from  making  in- 
cursions into  New  England."  f 

On  the  same  day,  the  tenth  of  May,  the  second  Con- 
tinental Congress  met.  Its  proceedings  were  also  secret. 

A  circular  letter  from  Franklin  and  other  colonial 
agents,  dated  at  London,  advised  them  of  the  avowed  de- 
termination of  the  ministry  "  to  enforce  obedience  to  all 
the  late  laws ; "  and  that  with  this  purpose  "  a  military 
force  was  under  orders  for  America  " — "  The  treatment, 
the  petitions  already  presented  have  hitherto  received,  is 

*  \merican  Archives,  May  5,  1775. 
t  New  York  Gazette,  May  15,  1775. 


90  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1T75. 

such,  as,  in  our  opinion,  can  afford  you  no  reliance  on 
present  relief  through  their  means." 

A  letter  from  the  Provincial  Congress  of  Massachusetts 
was  also  received,  stating  the  recent  hostilities,  their  meas- 
ures of  defence,  and  the  evidence  that  the  British  were 
the  aggressors. 

In  reply  to  an  application  from  New  York,  it  was 
recommended,  if  troops  should  arrive  there,  that  colony 
should  "  act  on  the  defensive  as  long  as  might  be  consist- 
ent with  their  own  safety,"  that  these  troops  be  not  suf- 
fered to  erect  fortifications  or  to  take  any  steps  for  cutting 
off  the  communication  between  the  town  and  country ; 
and  if  they  commit  hostilities  or  invade  private  property, 
the  inhabitants  should  defend  themselves,  repelling  force 
by  force — a  sufficient  number  of  men  to  be  embodied  and 
ready  to  protect  from  insult  and  injury. 

A  committee  was  ordered,  of  which  Washington  was 
the  first,  to  report  immediately  what  posts  in  New  York 
were  necessary  to  be  occupied.  Advices  arriving  of  the 
capture  of  Ticonderoga,  the  cannon  and  stores  were  re- 
commended to  be  removed  from  it,  and  New  Hampshire, 
Connecticut,  and  Massachusetts  to  establish  a  strong  post 
at  the  south  end  of  Lake  George. 

At  the  instance  of  New  Jersey,  a  recent  resolution  of 
the  British  House  of  Commons  was  considered.  It  was, 
that  if  any  colony  shall  propose  to  make  provision  for  the 
common  defence  disposable  by  Parliament,  and  shall  en- 
gage to  provide  for  the  support  of  its  civil  government 
and  the  administration  of  justice,  it  will  be  proper,  if  such 
proposal  shall  be  approved  by  the  king  and  Parliament, 
as  long  as  such  provision  shall  be  made,  to  forbear,  in  re- 
spect to  such  colony,  levying  any  duty  or  tax,  other  than 
duties  for  the  regulation  of  commerce,  to  be  carried  to 
the  account  of  the  respective  colony. 


JEr.  IS.]  HAMILTON.  91 

Stating  the  unconstitutional  and  oppressive  acts  for 
levying  and  enforcing  the  collection  of  taxes,  and  the 
hostilities  which  had  been  commenced,  and  their  ardent 
desire  of  conciliation ;  Congress  met  this  overture  by  re- 
solving that  measures  be  entered  upon  for  opening  a  ne- 
gotiation, and  that  it  be  a  part  of  their  petition  to  the 
king. 

At  the  same  time,  doubting  the  success  of  such  nego- 
tiation, New  York  was  urged  to  persevere  the  more 
vigorously  in  preparing  for  her  defence.  To  prevent  ag- 
gressions, a  second  letter  was  addressed  to  Canada,  asking 
peace  and  union  in  defence  of  their  common  liberties,  and 
incursions  into  it  were  dissuaded. 

In  return  for  the  recent  acts  restricting  their  com- 
merce and  stopping  the  labors  of  the  fishermen,  exporta- 
tions  to  all  such  parts  of  British  America  as  had  not  ac- 
ceded to  their  commercial  association  were  "  immediately 
to  cease."  No  provisions  of  any  kind  or  other  necessaries 
were  to  be  furnished  to  the  British  fisheries.  No  draft  or 
money  order  of  any  British  officer,  agent  or  contractor, 
was  to  be  received  or  negotiated,  or  money  supplied  to 
them,  and  no  supplies  to  be  made  to  the  royal  forces. 
Thus,  New  Brunswick,  Nova  Scotia,  Newfoundland  and 
the  West  Indies,  were  all  to  be  reached ;  and  the  means 
of  supplying  the  British  army  without  direct  remittances 
of  specie  were  at  an  end. 

These  decisive  measures  preceded  others  of  larger 
scope  and  more  pointed  character.  A  general  post  was 
established.  A  committee,  of  which  Schuyler  was  second 
to  Washington,  was  directed  to  form  an  estimate  of  the 
money  to  be  raised.  A  general  fast  was  ordered.  Pow- 
der mills  were  to  be  put  in  motion,  a  corps  of  riflemen  to 
be  organized. 

Having  advised  Massachusetts,  in  her  pressing  emer- 


92  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1775. 

gency  to  elect  a  temporary  government,  a  committee,  of 
which  were  .Washington  and  Schuyler,  was  chosen  to 
prepare  rules  and  regulations  for  an  army. 

Washington,  on  motion  of  Thomas  Johnson,  after- 
wards governor  of  Maryland,  was  nominated  General  and 
Commander-in-chief,  and  was  unanimously  elected.  He 
accepted  this  great  trust  with  his  characteristic  modesty.* 
Artemas  Ward  of  Massachusetts,  Charles  Lee,  Philip 
Schuyler,  and  Israel  Putnam  were  chosen  major-generals. 
Horatio  Gates  adjutant-general,  eight  brigadiers  f  and  the 
other  officers  of  a  general  staff. 

In  this  selection,  while  the  qualities  of  Washington 
gave  him  a  just  pre-eminence  and  clothed  the  prepara- 
tions for  impending  war  with  a  national  character,  the 
choice  of  the  other  officers  shows  where  the  brunt  of  the 
contest  was  expected  and  the  military  power  of  the  colo- 
nies that  were  to  meet  it. 

To  supply  the  public  wants,  an  emission  of  two  mil- 
lions of  dollars  in  bills  of  credit  was  ordered,  for  the  re- 

*  The  distinction  of  having  first  moved  the  nomination  of  Washington  is 
claimed  by  John  Adams.  Yet  he  writes  in  his  diary,  in  which  this  claim  is 
preferred :  "  I  was  daily  urging  all  these  things,  but  we  were  embarrassed 
with  more  than  one  difficulty,  not  only  with  the  party  in  favor  of  the  peti- 
tion to  the  king,  and  the  party  who  were  jealous  of  independence,  but  a  third 
party,  which  was  a  £outhern  party  against  a  Northern,  and  a  jealousy  uguinst 
a  New  England  army,  under  the  command  of  a  New  England  general. 
Whether  this  jealousy  was  sincere,  or  whether  it  was  mere  pride  and  a  haughty 
ambition  of  furnishing  a  Southern  general  to  command  the  Northern  army,  I 
cannot  say  ;  but  the  intention  was  very  visible  to  me  that  Colonel  Washington 
was  their  object,  and  so  many  of  our  staunchest  men  were  in  the  plan,  that  u-6 
could  carry  nothing  without  conceding  to  it". —  Works  of  John  Adams,  ii.  415.  His 
letter  of  Aug.  6,  1822,  states  that  Thomas  Johnson  subsequently  nominated 
him.— Ibid,  513. 

f  David  Wooster.  Joseph  Spencer,  of  Connecticut ;  Richard  Montgomery, 
of  New  York;  William  Heath,  John  Thomas,  Seth  Pomeroy,  of  Massachu- 
setts; John  Sullivan,  of  New  Hampshire;  Nathaniel  Greene,  of  Rhode  Island. 


J*r.  18.]  HAMILTON.  03 

demption  of  which  "  the  twelve  confederated  colonies " 
were  pledged. 

To  secure  peace  with  the  Indians,  the  colonies  were 
divided  into  three  great  departments.  Schuyler  was 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  Northern.  Indians  were  only 
to  be  engaged  as  allies  in  case  other  Indians  were  induced 
to  commit  hostilities,  or  to  enter  into  an  offensive  alliance 
with  Great  Britain. 

Intelligence  being  received  of  the  gallant  repulse  of 
the  British  at  Bunker's  Hill  by  a  body  of  men  under 
Prescot,  whose  hands  were  yet  rough  from  the  plough  or 
the  oar,  the  committees  on  the  state  of  the  nation  brought 
forward  their  important  reports. 

A  declaration  setting  forth  the  causes  and  necessity  of 
taking  up  arms  ;  a  second  petition  to  the  king  ;  a  second 
address  to  the  British  people  ;  one  to  Ireland,  another  to 
Jamaica,  were  published,  fraught  with  indignation  at  the 
wrongs  perpetrated,  and  avowals  of  a  determination  to 
resist,  not  unmingled  with  regrets.  "What  measures 
have  we  taken  that  betray  a  desire  of  independence  ? 
Have  we  called  in  the  aid  of  those  foreign  powers  who 
are  the  rivals  of  your  grandeur  ?  Have  we  taken  advan- 
tage of  the  weakness  of  your  troops,  and  hastened  to  de- 
stroy them  before  they  were  reinforced  ?  Have  we  not 
permitted  them  to  receive  the  succors  we  could  have  in- 
tercepted ?  Let  not  your  enemies  and  ours  persuade  you 
that  in  this  we  were  influenced  by  fear  or  any  other  un- 
worthy motive !  The  lives  of  Britons  are  still  dear  to  us. 
When  hostilities  were  commenced,  when,  on  a  late  occa- 
sion, we  were  wantonly  attacked  by  your  troops,  though 
we  repelled  their  assaults  and  returned  their  blows,  yet  we 
lamented  the  wounds  they  obliged  us  to  inflict ;  nor  have 
we  yet  learned  to  rejoice  at  a  victory  over  Englishmen." 

The  whole  people  were  called  upon  to  form  themselves 


94:  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1775. 

into  a  regular  militia,  and  a  committee  was  raised,  Jay  at 
its  head,  to  devise  means  to  protect  the  trade  of  the  colo- 
nies. Two  joint  treasurers  of  the  "  United  Colonies "' 
were  now  appointed.  Each  colony  was  to  choose  its  own 
treasurer,  and  to  provide  means  to  sink  the  bills  of  credit 
by  an  equal  mode  of  taxation,  arbitrary  quotas  of  contri- 
bution being  fixed  according  to  the  estimated  relative 
number  of  their  respective  inhabitants. 

The  accession  of  Georgia  having  completed  the  con- 
federacy, Congress  analyzed  the  late  resolution  of  the  Bri- 
tish commons  for  conciliation,  exhibited  its  fallacious  pro- 
positions ;  recited  in  brief,  emphatic  terms,  the  rights  as- 
sailed and  the  wrongs  inflicted,  concluding  with  the  decla- 
ration, "  that  nothing  but  our  own  exertions  may  defeat 
the  ministerial  sentence  of  death  or  abject  submission." 
Having  declared  the  non-exportation  and  non-importation 
agreements  to  comprehend  every  European  island  and 
settlement  within  the  British  dominions,  and  all  the  West 
Indies,  British  and  foreign,  Congress,  on  the  first  of  Au- 
gust, adjourned  to  the  fifth  of  the  ensuing  month. 

During  this  period  the  Provincial  Congress  of  New 
York  was  also  in  session.  Its  earliest  acts  were  to  order 
a  post  to  be  fortified  at  King's  Bridge,  near  the  city,  and 
for  an  emission  of  paper  money.  These  were  intended 
as  measures  of  prevention,  not  of  preparative  aggression. 
For  New  York,  though  led  on  to  its  duty  by  a  determined 
few,  from  its  divided  sentiment,  and  exposed,  defenceless 
condition,  was  most  anxious  for  accommodation.  An  ad- 
dress was  at  this  time  made  to  her  lieutenant-governor  to 
prevent  the  landing,  at  her  seaport,  of  the  reinforcements 
on  their  way  from  England,  and  an  address  to  the  Cana- 
dians, inviting  them  to  unite,  and  thus  to  insure  immunity 
to  her  extensive  vulnerable  northern  frontier. 

Washington  was  now  on  his  way  to  Boston  accom- 


JEa.  18.]  HAMILTON.  95 

panied  by  Lee.  Tryon  was  hourly  expected.  In  their 
dilemma,  the  Congress  of  New  York  ordered  a  body  of 
militia  to  receive  with  usual  honors  whichever  should  first 
arrive. 

Washington  was  the  first.  These  honors  were  paid 
him,  and  were  followed  by  an  address  from  the  Congress. 
They  avowed  "  as  the  fondest  wish  of  each  American 
soul,  an  accommodation  with  our  mother  country."  This 
accomplished,  "  you  will  cheerfully  resign."  He  assured 
them,  "  Every  exertion  of  my  worthy  colleagues  and  my- 
«elf  will  be  equally  extended  to  the  restoration  of  peace 
and  harmony,  as  to  the  fatal  but  necessary  operations  of 
war."  Leaving  Schuyler  in  that  city  with  instructions  to 
keep  his  eye  on  Tryon,  whom  he  would  have  seized  had 
not  Congress  been  in  session,  he  proceeded  through  New 
England,  welcomed  by  its  out-rushing  inhabitants,  and  by 
military  parades. 

Tryon  arrived  and  resumed  the  government  of  New 
York.  The  ultra  royalists  were  encouraged.  In  answer 
to  an  address  from  the  mayor  asking  his  intercession,  he 
assured  him,  "  He  was  authorized  to  say,  that  nothing  can 
give  greater  satisfaction  to  the  royal  breast  than  to  see 
again  an  united  and  happy  people." 

The  Provincial  Congress  completed,  at  this  time,  a 
plan  of  conciliation.  It  proposed  that  all  the  offensive 
acts  of  trade  be  repealed.  Parliament  to  regulate  their 
trade,  and  the  colonial  legislatures  annually  elected  to  im- 
pose taxes ;  or,  that  a  President  for  all  the  colonies  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  crown,  and  a  Continental  Congress  be 
elected  to  raise  and  apportion  the  aids. 

McDougall  moved  this  plan  be  not  transmitted  to  Con- 
gress until  asked  for  by  them.  But  it  was  sent  to  the 
New  York  delegates  and  acknowledged  in  respectful 
terms,  lamenting  the  "  unnatural  quarrel." 


96  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1775. 

The  strong  desire  of  this  body  for  conciliation  did  not 
prevent  it  declaring  its  dissatisfaction  with  the  act  estab- 
lishing popery  along  their  frontier. 

The  fearing,  hoping  mind  of  New  York  required  an 
impulse.  Hamilton  saw  the  necessity,  and  determined  to 
appeal  to  a  feeling  common  to  the  breasts  of  all  its  people. 

To  the  Churchman,  papacy  was  not  a  pleasant  thing. 
He  had  been  taught  in  his  Book  of  Common  Prayer  to  de- 
nounce "  Popish  treachery,"  "  Popish  tyranny,"  and  "  ar- 
bitrary power."  By  the  dissenting  English  arid  Dutch  it 
was  abhorred.  The  red  cross  effaced  from  the  flag  at 
Salem,  as  being  "  a  present  to  the  king  by  the  pope,  and 
a  relic  of  Anti-Christ,"  spoke  the  early  puritan  feeling. 
Nor  was  it  permitted  to  die  away.  The  clergy  who  ac- 
companied the  New  England  troops  to  Louisburgh  carried 
with  them  axes  to  cut  down  the  idols  of  the  'Catholic 
French.  The  blue  ribband  worn  over  their  buff  vests  by 
the  commander-in-chief  and  by  his  staff  as  the  emblem  of 
their  rank,  was  the  chosen  color  of  the  Scottish  Cove- 
nanter, of  Cromwell,  and  of  William  of  Orange ;  and 
though  Washington  would  not  merely  regard  it  as  a  Pro- 
testant type,  the  exulting  English  and  Dutch  dissenters 
associated  it  fondly  with  all  their  sufferings  and  with  all 
their  triumphs.  It  had  been  ordained  of  God.* 

New  York,  with  its  many  religious  modes  and  forms, 
had  not  been  ashamed  to  persecute  the  Roman  Catholics. 
The  address  of  the  City  of  London  denouncing  the 
Quebec  bill,  appealed  to  this  feeling.  This  bill  presented 
popery  in  a  most  odious  form.  For  it  was  believed  to 
have  been  passed  with  a  view  to  organize  a  province  of 
French  Catholics  under  an  arbitrary  government,  the  mere 
instrument  of  the  crown  to  lower  over  and  to  control  the 
long  hitherto  undefined  frontier  of  the  British  colonists. 
"  It.  is  necessary,"  was  the  avowal  in  England,  "to  con- 

*  Put  upon  the  fringe  of  the  borders  a  riband  of  blue. — Xum.  xv.  38. 


^T.  18.]  HAMILTON.  97 

ciliate  the  affections  of  the  Canadians,  and  thereby  induce 
them  to  assist  administration  in  COERCING  AMERICA." 

In  this  light  Congress  had  placed  it  before  the  people 
of  England  and  America.  Thus,  even  without  a  mis- 
guiding bigotry,  it  was  a  measure  to  enlist  all  the  jealous- 
ies and  resentments  of  the  British  colonists. 

While  Canada  was  a  province  of  France  its  laws  and 
customs  were  of  course  in  force,  and  were  regulated  in 
conformity  with  the  genius  and  disposition  of  a  despotic 
government.  When  it  fell  under  the  dominion  of  Great 
Britain,  these  laws  gave  place  to  the  milder  influence  of 
those  of  England.  All  persons  settling  there,  were,  by  a 
proclamation  of  the  crown,  assured  a  full  enjoyment  of 
the  rights  of  British  subjects.  By  this  act,  that  procla- 
mation and  the  government  exercised  under  it,  were  an- 
nulled after  the  first  of  January,  seventeen  hundred  and 
seventy-five. 

It  created  a  legislative  council  appointed  by  the 
crown,  holding  office  during  its  pleasure.  There  was  to 
be  no  representation  of  the  people.  The  French  laws 
were  restored,  and  a  power  reserved  to  alter  these  laws  at 
will.  In  civil  cases,  the  French  laws  were  to  govern, 
there  was  to  be  no  trial  by  jury.  This  was  only  to  be 
had  in  criminal  prosecutions.  A  proposal  to  give  a  jury 
at  the  option  of  the  parties,  and  the  protection  of  the  ha- 
beas corpus  act,  were  both  rejected. 

The  Roman  Catholic  clergy  were  to  have  the  legal 
enjoyment  of  their  estates  and  of  the  tithes  paid  them  by 
the  Catholics. 

The  support  of  the  Protestant  clergy  was  left  to  be  at 
the  discretion  of  the  crown.  This  government  was  ex- 
tended by  this  act  beyond  the  existing  limits  of  the  frozen 
province  far  on  to  the  temperate  regions  watered  by  the 
Illinois. 

VOL.  I.— 7- 


98  THE   EEPUBLIC.  [1775. 

Hamilton  met  the  popular  feeling  by  publishing,  at  this 
time,  his  "  Remarks  on  the  Quebec  bill." 

They  were  brief  and  forcible.  The  first  appearing  on 
the  fifteenth  of  June,  seventy-five,  in  a  close  examination 
of  the  terms  of  the  act,  commented  on  the  character  of 
this  bill,  which  placed  the  laws  and  government  of  the 
province  under  the  sole  discretion  of  the  prince  ;  confer- 
red on  him  the  most  extraordinary  and  dangerous  prerog- 
ative, that  of  creating  courts  of  criminal,  civil,  and  eccle- 
siastical jurisdiction,  and  appointing  temporary  judges, 
whose  commissions  were  revocable  at  pleasure  ;  and  that 
of  making  the  trial  by  jury  dependent  on  the  will  of  the 
provincial  legislature ;  thus  showing  that  an  arbitrary 
government  had  been  established  in  that  extensive  region. 

The  purport  of  the  second  number,  was  to  prove  that 
the  church  of  Rome  had  the  sanction  of  a  legal  establish- 
ment in  that  province.  It  is  an  able  refutation  of  an  es- 
say, which  professed  to  show,  that  by  this  act,  the  catholic 
religion  was  merely  tolerated ;  and  giving  a  very  precise 
and  accurate  definition  of  an  established  religion,  it  de- 
duces clearly,  from  the  terms  of  the  act,  that  the  Catholic 
religion  is  placed  on  the  footing  of  a  regular  establish- 
ment, while  the  Protestant  is  "  left  entirely  destitute  and 
unbefriended." 

The  dangers  to  their  Protestant  neighbors  of  the  vi- 
cinity of  a  colony  of  Roman  Catholics,  allured  in  great 
numbers  by  the  favor  of  government,  with  a  dependent 
clergy,  disposed  to  support  absolute  power,  are  strongly 
portrayed,  and  an  earnest  appeal  is  made  to  the  jealous 
feelings  of  the  Protestant  colonies. 

These  essays  are  an  interesting  specimen  of  the  early 
reach  of  thought,  and  precision  of  language,  which  were 
afterwards  disclosed  by  him  in  so  remarkable  a  degree. 

The  recommendation  by  Congress  of  a  general  organ- 


^Ei.  18.]  HAMILTON.  90 

izaiion  of  the  militia,  and  the  near  approach  of  a  detach- 
ment from  Connecticut  under  Wooster,  quickened  the 
spirit  of  the  patriots  of  New  York.  'Hamilton,  now  see- 
ing that  war  approaching  he  had  early  desired  as  a  sphere 
of  distinction,  joined  while  in  college  a  volunteer  corps  of 
Major  Fleming,  formerly  an  adjutant  in  the  British  ser- 
vice, an  exact  disciplinarian.  Under  his  command,  he 
acquired  some  knowledge  of  the  rudiments  of  a  military 
education,  and  became  expert  in  its  simpler  details.* 

This  corps  met  each  morning  for  exercise  in  the 
church  yard  of  St.  George's  chapel.  They  assumed  the 
name  of  "  Hearts  of  Oak,"  f  and  under  their  green  uni- 
forms and  leathern  caps,  bearing  the  ominous  inscription 
of  "  Freedom  or  death,"  felt  the  pulsations  of  the  coming 
contest.  Of  it  were  Hamilton's  personal  friends,  Nicholas 
Fish,  afterwards  distinguished  in  the  assault  at  Yorktown, 
and  Robert  Troup,  who  served  in  the  northern  department 
and  received  the  thanks  of  Congress. 

An  incident  of  this  time  gave  them  the  first  hint  of 
danger.  While  engaged  in  removing  some  cannon  from 
the  Battery,  a  boat  of  the  Asia,  man-of-war,  approached, 
as  was  supposed,  to  prevent  its  removal.  A  musket  wan- 
tonly fired  from  the  boat,  was  returned  by  a  volley.  A 
few  guns  opened  from  the  ship.  The  drums  on  the  Bat- 
tery sounded  the  alarm,  and  forth  came  a  broadside  from 
the  Asia,  wounding  a  few  citizens  and  injuring  private 
dwellings. 

Hamilton  was  present  at  this  exciting  scene,  and  was 
thus  associated,  in  the  minds  of  the  people,  with  the  first 
act  of  resistance  to  the  first  act  of  violence  offered  to  the 
province. 

*  Troup  to  Pickering. 

f  A  song  under  this  title,  composed  by  David  Garrick,  was  often  sung  dur- 
ing the  Revolution. — Songs  and  Ballads  of  the  Revolution,  47. 


100  THE    REPUBLIC.  TT75. 

A  violent  commotion  was  the  consequence  of  this  at- 
tack. The  king's  store  was  broken  open  and  plundered, 
and  the  Provincial  Congress  invited  the  Connecticut 
troops  to  repair  to  the  camp  near  New  York  to  protect 
the  inhabitants.  Liberty  boys,  meanwhile,  traversed  the 
streets,  menacing  every  conspicuous  adherent  of  the  gov- 
ernor. 

In  the  height  of  their  excitement  they  approached  the 
college,  to  seize  the  person  of  its  loyal  president,  Doctor 
Cooper.  Hamilton  and  Troup  ascended  the  steps  of  the 
porch,  and  fearing  some  excess,  to  give  time  to  the  presi- 
dent to  escape,  Hamilton  addressed  the  mob,  expostulating 
with  them  "  on  the  impropriety  of  their  conduct,  and  the 
disgrace  they  were  bringing  on  the  cause  of  liberty,  of 
which  they  professed  to  be  the  champions."  He  thus  di- 
verted their  attention,  until  the  affrighted  clergyman,  who, 
at  first  imagining  he  was  exciting  the  mob,  exclaimed 
from  an  upper  window,  "  Don't  listen  to  him,  gentlemen, 
he  is  crazy,  he  is  crazy,"  took  refuge  in  the  ship-of-war.* 

By  a  similar  exhibition  of  rare  youthful  firmness,  he 
interposed  with  a  concourse  of  people  known  as  "  Travis' 
hiob,"  and  turned  their  rage  from  Thurman,  a  respectable 
merchant,  whose  conduct,  as  one  of  a  committee,  had  in- 
curred their  wrath,  and  whose  life  was  threatened. 

Such  was  the  distempered  feeling  of  this  city,  that  the 
royalists,  who  had  fled  for  safety  from  the  other  colonies 
to  New  York,  were  compelled  to  leave  it,  and  Tryon,  the 
last  royal  governor,  a  man  of  courage,  fearful  of  the  mob, 
was  preparing  to  depart.  Under  a  threat,  that  if  his  per- 
son were  seized,  his  majesty's  ships  would  compel  his  re- 
lease, he  asked  a  guarantee  for  his  safety.  Not  being 
satisfied,  he  went  on  board  the  Halifax  packet. 

The  press  of  Rivington,  the  tory  printer,  was  the  last 

*  Troup  to  Pickering. 


JET.  18.]  HAMILTON.  101 

object  of  violence.  By  occasionally  printing  for  the  pop- 
ular side,  he  had  preserved  some  appearance  of  neutrality, 
but  as  the  controversy  ripened,  he  took  open  part  with 
the  royalists.  A  body  of  horse  from  Connecticut  with 
Sears  at  their  head,  came  into  the  city,  and  at  dusk  rifled 
his  types.  Indignant  at  this  attack  upon  the  freedom  of 
the  press,  which  he  felt  was  to  be  the  great  instrument 
of  his  own  usefulness,  Hamilton  renewed  his  appeal  in 
behalf  of  order,  offering  to  unite  with  a  party  of  citizens 
to  pursue  the  intruders,  and  recapture  the  types.  The 
Provincial  Congress  remonstrated  with  the  governor  of 
Connecticut  at  this  unlicensed  entrance  into  their  prov- 
ince. On  their  return,  the  party  carried  with  them  to 
New  Haven  the  mayor  of  the  royal  borough  of  West- 
chester,  and  Seabury,  author  of  the  "  Westchester  Farm- 
er's" letters. 


CHAPTER    IV. 


THIS  violation  of  the  press  was  prompted  by  the  distrust 
of  Sears,  who  had  withdrawn  to  Connecticut,  of  the 
councils  in  New  York,  at  times  showing  the  impress  of 
the  popular  feeling,  then  relapsing  into  submission.* 

Schuyler,  pointing  out  the  fatal  consequences  of  aban- 
doning Ticonderoga  and  Crown  Point,  urged  them  to  for- 
ward troops.  "  Our  troops,"  they  told  him,  "  can  be  of  no 
service  to  you.  They  have  no  arms,  clothing  or  ammuni- 
tion. The  officers  no  commissions,  the  treasury  no  money, 
ourselves  in  debt.  We  will  remove  difficulties  as  fast  as 
we  can  and  send  you  soldiers,  whenever  the  men  we  have 
raised  are  entitled  to  that  name."  At  his  instance,  they 
now  ordered  an  artillery  company  to  be  formed,  f  and 
soon  after  adopted  a  plan  for  organizing  the  militia  of  the 
State  —  each  company  to  furnish  minute  men  to  be  subject 
to  the  articles  of  war  established  by  the  Continental  Con- 
gress, and  to  a  penalty  for  absence  from  duty.  Power 
was  given  to  impress  arms  in  the  hands  of  private  citizens, 
and,  at  the  instance  of  the  General  Congress,  mounted 

*  Sears  called  on  Connecticut  to  raise  a  regiment  for  the  express  purpose 
of  expelling  the  tories  from  New  York,  Nov.  28,  1775. 

f  The  uniform  of  this  company  was  to  be  "  blue,  faced  with  buff,"  —  said  to 
be  the  first  official  designation  of  ft  uniform  in  this  country. 


;ET.  18.]  HAMILTON.  103 

men  were  to  be  stationed  on  the  public  roads  to  give  in- 
telligence. 

Schuyler  also  pressed  them  to  strengthen  the  works  on 
the  Hudson  River.  "Every  object,  as  to  importance, 
sinks  almost  to  nothing  when  put  in  competition  with 
that."  Little  was  done.  News  arrived  that  German  mer- 
cenaries were  coming,  and  looking  to  the  probability  of 
their  city  being  again  taken  possession  of,  the  Provincial 
Congress  gave  an  assurance  of  protection  to  Tryon  if  he 
would  return ;  avowing  "  their  unshaken  loyalty  to  their 
sovereign."  They  deprecated  the  destination  thither  of 
General  Lee  with  troops,  lest  it  should  induce  an  attack 
upon  the  city.  The  provincial  forces  then  counted  about 
six  hundred  men. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  great  Council  of  the  colonies 
were  acting  with  a  clearer  vision  of  the  future.*  The  ex- 
penditure of  millions  had  given  them  importance  and  in- 
fluence, and  they  began  to  look  at  their  finances.  Such 
had  been  the  credit  of  the  several  colonial  emissions, 
guardedly  issued  and  carefully  redeemed,  that  the  possi- 
bility of  discredit  to  those  of  the  united  colonies  had 
scarcely  been  imagined.  The  improvidence  which  had 
been  a  means  of  power,  it  began  to  be  seen,  must  have  a 
check ;  and  a  committee  of  accounts  and  claims,  to  con- 
sist of  a  member  from  each  colony,  was  appointed,  to 
whom  all  accounts  "  against  the  Continent  "  were  to  be 
referred. 

In  consequence  of  instructions  from  Rhode  Island,  f 
armed  vessels  were  to  be  fitted  out  "  for  the  protection 
and  defence  of  the  united  colonies,"  or,  in  the  language 
of  that  State  "  for  carrying  on  the  war  effectively,  and 

*  September  13,  1775. 

f  August  26,  1775.      Stated   to  have  been  prepared  and  presented  by 
Samuel  Ward,  a  delegate  from  that  colony. 


104  THE   KEPUBLIC.  [1775. 

building  an  American  fleet."  All  captured  British  armed 
vessels  and  transports  were  to  be  forfeited.  The  colonies 
were  requested  to  institute  admiralty  courts  with  jury 
trials,  subject  to  an  appeal  to  Congress  or  to  such  persons 
as  it  should  appoint  for  hearing  the  appeals,  thus  having  a 
national  prize  court  in  view.  The  captures  by  private 
armed  vessels  were  to  enure  to  the  owners ;  those  by 
public  armed  vessels,  one  third  to  the  captors,  the  residue 
10  the  colony  by  which  they  were  fitted.  Thus  the  fleet, 
as  was  the  army,  would  be  of  the  separate  colonies.  But 
it  being  necessary  that  it  should  be  controlled  by  Congress, 
rules  and  regulations  were  soon  after  established,  chiefly 
taken  from  the  English  code,  for  "  the  regulation  of  the 
navy  of  the  united  colonies."  In  the  same  view,  officers 
were  appointed  by  Congress,  Hopkins  of  Rhode  Island 
being  commissioned  "  commander-in-chief  of  the  fleet." 

A  "  new  army "  was  to  be  raised,  "  intended  to  lie 
before  Boston,"  to  be  paid  by  the  General  Congress ;  and 
battalions  of  troops  for  the  defence  of  North  Carolina 
and  Georgia. 

New  Hampshire  was  recommended  to  call  "  a  full  and 
free  representation  of  the  people  to  form  a  government 
to  exist  during  the  present  disputes"  which  recommenda- 
tion, ere  the  close  of  the  year,  was  extended  to  South 
Carolina  and  to  Virginia. 

Another  emission  of  bills  of  credit  was  ordered  to  be 
sunk  by  the  several  colonies  according  to  their  quotas,  for 
which  "  the  Thirteen  United  Colonies  were  pledged,"  and, 
progressive  to  the  final  result,  Virginia,  Maryland,  and 
North  Carolina  were  authorized  to  export  their  produce 
every  where,  except  to  Great  Britain  and  her  dependen- 
cies, and  in  return  to  import  "  salt." 

A  committee  had  been  appointed  to  proceed  to  Canada 
to  induce  the  Canadians  "  to  accede  to  the  Union"  and  to 


JET.  IS.]  HAMILTON.  105 

send  delegates  to  the  Congress,  assuring  them  of  their 
purpose  to  obtain  for  them  the  blessings  of  a  free  govern 
ment ;  and  that  they  "  hold  sacred  the  rights  of  conscience, 
and  the  free  enjoyment  of  their  religion."  But  how  could 
be  appreciated  the  blessings  of  liberty  by  a  people 
shrouded  in  ignorance,  and  happy  in  the  torpor  of  a  passive 
obedience  ? 

It  was  in  the  hope  of  aid  from  the  Canadians,  or,  at 
least,  of  their  neutrality,  that  Schuyler  had  been  ordered 
to  advance  into  that  province,  "badly  disciplined  and  sup- 
plied as  his  army  was."  Roused  for  a  moment  by  the 
presence  of  the  -colonial  troops,  the  poor  peasantry  con- 
tributed their  little  aids,  but  the  Catholic  clergy,  won  by 
the  recent  Quebec  act,  preferred  the  English  sway  ;  and 
their  influence  with  their  votaries  was  decisive.* 

Earnest  as  Schuyler's  efforts  were,  they  were  too  late. 
A  vigorous  incursion,  immediately  after  the  capture  of  the 
posts  on  Champlain,  might  have  been  successful.  But  the 
time  had  passed,  and  the  unsuccessful  assault  upon  Que- 
bec was  only  signalized  by  the  gallantry  of  the  combat- 
ants and  by  the  fall  of  Montgomery,  deplored  as  a  na- 
tional calamity. 

Elsewhere  the  scene  was  brighter.  The  heights  near 
Boston  were  occupied  by  a  besieging  army  under  WASH- 
INGTON, if  that  might  be  called  an  army,  a  concourse  of 
men,  reasoning  upon  every  order,  and  discussing  every 
movement,  crumbling  to  pieces  and  being  renewed  within 
musket  shot  of  their  enemy.  Yet  that  army,  by  the  con- 
duct and  imposing  presence  of  their  commander,  now  in- 

*  Colonel  Hazen  to  Schuyler.  The  clergy  "  are  unanimous,  though  pri- 
vately, against  our  cause,  and  I  have  too  much  reason  to  fear  many  of  them, 
with  other  people  of  some  consequence,  have  carried  on  a  correspondence  the 
whole  winter  with  General  Carleton  in  Quebec,  and  are  now  plotting  our  de- 
struction."—  Washington's  Writings,  iii.  302. 


106  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1776. 

spired  to  duly  and  moulded  to  service,  though  poorly  sup- 
plied with  the  necessaries  of  war,  were  closely  pressing 
the  disciplined,  well-provided  troops  under  Howe,  with 
whom  the  question  was  arising  of  a  defeat  or  a  retreat. 

Nor  would  Washington,  as  ardent  as  he  was  a  cautious 
soldier,  have  permitted  it  to  be  long  a  question.  He  pro- 
posed to  invade  the  invaders.  "  No  opportunity  can  pre- 
sent itself  earlier  than  my  wishes."  But  a  council  of  war 
this  time  happily  objected.  The  effusion  of  more  blood 
was  prevented  by  the  evacuation  of  Boston.* 

While  these  events  were  passing,  the  Continental  Con- 
gress took  the  final  stand  of  a  severance  from  Great  Britain, 
a  design  hastened  by  the  fatuitous  policy  of  her  arms. 
For,  though  the  unauthorized  acts  of  its  officers,  it  seemed 
as  if  she  had  decided  to  pass  an  electric  shock  along  the 
whole  nerve  line  of  the  colonies. 

On  the  first  day  of  the  new  year,  anticipating  attacks 
upon  the  Carolinas  and  Virginia,  Congress  urged  upon 
them  "  a  vigorous  defence  and  opposition."  The  same 
day,  Dunmore,  secure  on  shipboard,  signalized  the  preda- 
tory warfare  he  had  begun  by  reducing  Norfolk,  the  chief 
town  of  Virginia,  to  ashes.  Indignant  at  this  wanton  at- 
tack upon  his  native  State,  Washington  wrote,  "  I  hope 
my  countrymen  (of  Virginia)  will  rise  superior  to  any  losses 
the  whole  navy  of  Great  Britain  can  bring  on  them,  and 
that  the  destruction  of  Norfolk  and  threatened  devastation 
of  other  places,  will  have  no  other  effect  than  to  UNITE  the 
whole  country  in  one  INDISSOLUBLE  BOND  against  a  nation 
which  seems  to  be  lost  to  every  sense  of  virtue,  and  those 
feelings  which  distinguish  a  civilized  people  from  the  most 
barbarous  savages.  A  few  more  of  such  flaming  argu- 
ments as  were  exhibited  at  Falmouth  and  Norfolk,  added 
to  the  sound  doctrine  and  unanswerable  reasoning  con- 

*  March  17.  1776. 


^Ex.  19.]  HAMILTON".  107 

tuined  in  the  pamphlet  *  Common  Sense,'  will  not  leave 
numbers  at  a  loss  to  decide  upon  the  propriety  of  a  sepa- 
ration." This  wanton  violence  is  the  more  marked,  as 
Dunmore's  force  was  chiefly  composed  of  the  disaffected 
and  of  slaves,  by  the  fact,  that  Congress  was  at  this  mo- 
ment framing  recommendations  to  deal  kindly  with  the 
misled,  to  enlighten  them  as  to  the  justice  and  necessity 
of  the  opposition  to  "  ministerial  tyranny,"  and,  in  despite 
of  the  "  execrable  barbarity"  of  the  enemy,  "  to  continue 
mindful  that  humanity  ought  to  distinguish  the  brave  ;  to 
take  care  that  no  page  in  the  annals  of  America  be  stained 
by  a  recital  of  any  action  which  justice  or  Christianity 
may  condemn  ;  and  to  rest  assured,  that  whenever  retalia- 
tion may  be  necessary,  this  Congress  will  undertake  the 
disagreeable  task." 

The  only  subjects,  as  to  which  the  supremacy  of  Great 
Britain  was  still  admitted  by  the  colonies,  were,  a  commu- 
nity of  war,  and  peace,  and  the  regulation  of  trade.  Her 
policy,  now  disclosed,  to  make  war  upon  them  in  the  most 
odious  form,  and  to  put  an  end  to  their  trade,  removed  the 
only  grounds  of  allegiance,  or  motives  to  longer  connection. 

The  speech  of  the  king  to  Parliament  stated  his  readi- 
ness "  to  receive  the  submission  of  the  colonies,  and  to 
restore  them,  on  their  return  to  their  allegiance,  to  the 
free  exercise  of  their  trade  and  commerce." 

Fox,  pointing  to  the  premier,  declared,  "  the  noble  lord 
has  lost  a  whole  continent."  Burke  advised  him,  "  no  lon- 
ger to  make  England  appear  like  a  porcupine  armed  at  all 
points  with  acts  of  Parliament,  oppressive  to  the  freedom 
and  trade  of  America,  but  to  meet  the  colonists  with  open 
arms."  He  offered  a  bill  "  for  composing  the  troubles." 
It  was  rejected  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  the  Commons  ;* 

*  The  only  persons  permitted  to  be  present  at  this  debate  were  four  women 
of  quality  and  a  few  foreigners. — Am.  Archives. 


108  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1776. 

and  an  act  prohibiting  all  trade  and  intercourse  during  the 
present  rebellion  passed  without  a  division.  A  protest  of 
the  Lords  shows  its  character.  That  it  rendered  captured 
property  the  property  of  the  captors.  It  considered  the 
colonies  as  a  foreign  nation  ;  and  the  declaring  war  against 
them  had  a  direct  tendency  to  effect  an  entire  and  per- 
manent separation.  It  encouraged  the  navy  to  make  an 
indiscriminate  prey  of  the  property  of  all  English  subjects 
trading  with  them,  It  obliged  the  unhappy  men  made 
captives  in  this  predatory  war  to  bear  arms  against  their 
families,  friends  and  country  ;  and  after  being  plundered 
themselves,  to  become  accomplices  in  plundering  their 
brethren. 

Preparations  of  war  followed,  assuming  the  odious 
form  of  subsidizing  foreign  troops.  A  negotiation  opened 
to  hire  twenty  thousand  Russians  was  thwarted  by  an- 
other power,*  but  treaties  were  concluded  in  January 
with  Brunswick  and  Hesse-Cassel,  the  former  to  sup- 
ply four  thousand  three  hundred  men,  the  latter  twelve 
thousand.f 

Amid  all  their  injuries,  this  was  regarded  by  the  colo- 
nists as  the  greatest  enormity.  In  the  minds  of  a  vast 
majority  all  thoughts  of  accommodation  with  them  were  at 
an  end. 

Having  granted  bounties  for  the  enlistment  of  troops, 
and  voted  another  emission  of  bills,  Congress  proceeded 
carefully  towards  the  unavoidable  result.  In  the  mean 
time,  mindful  of  the  humanity  recommended  by  them, 
they  resolved  that  "  Indians  should  not  be  employed  in  the 
armies  of  the  United  States  before  their  national  councils 

*  American  Archives. 

|  Each  foot  soldier  was  valued  at  30  crowns  banco,  or  four  and  nine-pence 
three  farthings  English.  Each  man  killed  to  be  paid  for  at  the  rate  of  the 
levy  money.  Annual  subsidies  were  granted. 


^ET.  19.]  HAMILTON.  109 

had  consented  ;  nor  then,  without  the  express  approbation 
of  Congress." 

The  recent  act  of  Great  Britain  making  open  war  had 
now  come  to  their  knowledge.  It  was  met  by  a  declara- 
tion of  wrongs,*  and  by  resolutions  permitting  the  fitting 
out  of  private  armed  cruisers  "on  the  enemies  of  these 
United  Colonies,"  declaring  the  captures  lawful  prizes,  and 
for  the  fortifications  of  ports  for  the  protection  of  these 
cruisers. 

This  declaration  of  war  preceded  a  short  time  an  act 
of  the  highest  necessity.  It  authorized  a  commerce  with 
all  countries  "  not  subject  to  the  king  of  Great  Britain," 
excepting  in  staves  and  casks  and  East  India  teas,  liable  to 
such  duties  as  then  were  or  might  be  laid  by  any  of  the 
colonies,  leaving  open  future  commercial  regulations  and 
prohibiting  the  importation  of  slaves,^  thus  associating 
this  great  act  of  humanity  with  the  first  national  act  of 
trade. 

The  power  of  committees  to  regulate  prices  except 
"  of  green  tea  "  was  rescinded,  and  the  committee  on  the 
state  of  the  nation  began  to  deliberate  on  the  question  of 
independence. 

Wisely  had  been  waited  evidence  of  the  unequiv- 
ocal necessity  of  the  measure,  and  a  clear  expression  of 
the  determination  of  the  American  people  to  become  one 
nation.  Personal  vanity  and  pretension  have  sought  to 
cast  a  shade  on  the  prudence  of  the  middle  States,  but 
events  soon  showed  that  the  men  of  calmest  counsels 
were  not  the  least  firm  in  purpose  or  intrepid  of  spirit.  J 

The  rising  light   of  the   revolution    has   been   seen. 

*  March  23. 

f  "  Resolved,  That  no  slaves  be  imported  into  any  of  the  thirteen  United 
Colonies."    April  6,  1776. 

t  See  Life  of  John  Adams,  by  C.  A.  Adams,  i.  211,  212. 


110  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1776. 

Amid  heavy  clouds  it  was  breaking  into  perfect  day. 
Relieved  by  the  repeal  of  the  stamp  act,  this  future  seemed 
for  a  moment  to  have  been  less  present,  but  the  opposition 
to  the  revenue  acts  forced  it  full  upon  the  view.  "  There 
seems  to  be,"  Hamilton  writes  as  early  as  February,  sev- 
enty-five, "  there  seems  to  be  already  a  jealousy  of  our 
dawning  splendor.  It  is  looked  upon  as  portentous  of 
approaching  INDEPENDENCE.  The  boundless  extent  of 
territory  we  possess  ;  the  wholesome  temperament  of  our 
climate  ;  the  luxuriance  and  fertility  of  our  soil ;  the  va- 
riety of  our  products  ;  the  rapidity  of  our  population  ;  the 
industry  of  our  countrymen ;  and  the  commodiousness  of 
our  ports,  naturally  lead  to  a  suspicion  of  INDEPEND- 
ENCE." Then  predicting  the  success  of  the  attempt  he 
observed,  "  The  disjunction  of  these  colonies  from  Great 
Britain  and  the  acquisition  of  a  free  trade  with  them,  are 
objects  of  too  inviting  a  complexion  to  suffer  these  king- 
doms "  (France  and  Spain)  "  to  remain  sole  spectators  of 
the  contention.  If  they  found  us  inclined  to  throw  our- 
selves upon  their  protection,  they  would  eagerly  embrace 
the  opportunity  to  weaken  their  antagonist  and  strengthen 
themselves." — "  The  present  seemingly  pacific  and  friendly 
disposition  of  the  French  is  merely  a  piece  of  finesse,  in- 
tended to  dupe  administration  into  some  violent  measures 
with  the  colonies,  that  they  may  improve  them  to  their 
own  advantage.  They  would  undoubtedly  take  every 
clandestine  method  to  introduce  among  us  supplies  of 
those  things  which  we  stood  in  need  of  to  carry  on  the 
dispute."*  This  prediction  of  clandestine  aid  was  now 
being  fulfilled,  pursuant  to  the  advice  of  Turgot  in  the 
cabinet  at  Versailles,  "  Let  France  avoid  open  hostilities, 
but  privately  aid  the  Americans  with  arms,  ammunition 
and  money." 

*  Hamilton's  Works,  ii.  49,  120.     Feb.  5,  1775. 


-&T.  19.]  HAMILTON.  HI 

In  New  Jersey,  an  organization  was  proposed  of  the 
present  colonies,  adding  three  others,  and  altering  their 
boundaries,  under  a  general  Congress  to  be  elected  by  the 
ballots  of  qualified  voters,  including  widows,  and  exempt- 
ing from  taxation  persons  not  entitled  to  vote.* 

Three  months  later,  the  people  of  North  Carolina, 
fired  by  the  blood  shed  at  Lexington,  took  the  decisive 
step  of  declaring  at  Mecklenburg,  f  "We  dissolve  the 
political  bands  which  have  connected  us  with  our  mother 
country — we  absolve  ourselves  from  all  allegiance  to  the 
British  crown — declare  ourselves  a  free  and  independent 
people,  are,  and  of  right  ought  to  be,  a  sovereign,  self- 
governing  association,  under  the  control  of  no  power 
other  than  that  of  our  God,  and  the  general  government  of 
Congress — to  the  maintenance  of  which  Independence  we 
solemnly  pledge  to  each  other  our  mutual  co-operation, 
our  lives,  our  fortunes,  and  our  most  sacred  honor." 
Words  imperishable,  richer  than  the  rich  gold  of  their 
hills  and  valleys. 

Ere  the  close  of  this  year,  a  writer  with  all  the  solem- 
nity of  religious  feeling  and  fresh  hope  of  the  festive  sea- 
son, §  wrote  in  Philadelphia  on  Christmas  eve,  "  We  may 
believe  the  Divine  counsel  to  the  united  colonies  is,  Now 
is  your  time  to  form  one  general  plan  of  an  American 
union  and  constitution  which  shall  dissolve  only  with  the 
last  breath  of  your  expiring  liberty ;  which  under  my 
protection  will  form  an  everlasting  barrier  against  tyran- 
nical encroachments — an  American  empire  of  liberty." 
"  The  rattlesnake  on  the  drum  of  a  marine,  '  Don't  tread 
on  me,'  among  other  its  habits,  is  solitary,  and  associates 
with  her  kind  only  when  it  is  necessary  for  their  preser- 
vation. In  winter  the  warmth  of  a  number  together  will 

*  American  Archives.     "  Essex,  Feb.  26,"  1775.  f  May  31,  1775. 

§  "  Salus  populi,"  Dec.  27,  1775. 


112  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1776 

preserve  their  lives,  while  singly  they  would  probably 
perish."  * 

New  Hampshire  exclaimed,  "  Thanks  be  to  Heaven ! 
There  is  yet  a  way  open  to  us,  not  only  to  escape  the 
threatened  ruin,  but  to  become  a  happy,  wealthy,  power- 
ful, respectable  people.  By  declaring  an  immediate  inde- 
pendency, proclaiming  a  neutrality,  opening  and  declaring 
free  all  our  ports,  promoting  manufactories,"  wise  words 
from  the  far  East. 

Nathaniel  Greene,  passing  from  the  plough  and  the 
forge  where  his  Quaker  father  had  taught  him  virtue  and 
labor,  to  that  high  place  for  which  nature  intended  hirn, 
writes  in  the  opening  year  of  seventy-six  from  Rhode 
Island,  where  he  had  harangued,  collected,  and  was  drilling 
troops,  with  all  the  sublimity  of  the  theme  and  of  his  own 
true  spirit.  "  Permit  me  to  recommend  from  the  sincer- 
ity of  my  heart,  ready  to  bleed  in  my  country's  cause,  a 
declaration  of  independence  ;  and  call  upon  the  world  and 
the  great  God  who  governs  it,  to  witness  the  necessity, 
propriety,  and  rectitude  of  it.  You  stand  the  representa- 
tives, not  of  AMERICA  only,  but  of  the  whole  world,  the 
friends  of  liberty  and  supporters  of  human  nature."  f 
"  Common  sense,"  in  language  plain  to  every  mind,  was 
now  urging  independence.  J  "  Administration,"  another 
writes,  "  has  now  fairly  dissolved  the  dangerous  tie.  Ex- 
ecrated will  be  he  by  the  latest  posterity  who  again  joins 
the  fatal  chord.  It  is  the  only  step  that  can  bring  the 
contest  to  a  speedy  and  happy  issue."  § 

"Our  plan  is  commerce,"  was  the  language  of  the 
young  merchant  of  New  York,  "  and  that  will  secure  us 
the  peace  and  friendship  of  all  Europe,  because  it  is  the 

*  American  Archives,  iv.  469. 

f  Jan.  4,  1776.     To  Samuel  Ward,  in  Congress.          $  By  Thomas  Paino. 

gFeb.  3,  1776. 


^Ex.  19.]  HAMILTON.  113 

interest  of  all  Europe  to  have  America  a  free  port."  A 
system  of  government  by  State  and  General  Congress 
was  proposed.  "  But  where  is  the  king  of  America  ?  He 
reigns  above.  Let  it  be  that  in  America  the  law  is  king."  * 

Connecticut  was  told  to  make  use  of  her  charter  gov- 
ernment as  a  popular  ^government,  carrying  the  elective 
principle  to  its  fullest  extent,  and  upon  that  basis  to  form 
a  continental  government. 

"  What,"  was  asked  by  the  Virginia  planter,  "  if  we 
should  be  obliged  to  encumber  ourselves  with  double  the 
load  of  our  present  expenses.  A  few  years  of  free  and 
universal  trade  would  enable  us  to  redeem  all."  f 

Looking  to  the  hoped  change,  it  was  observed,  "  A 
republican  government  hath  more  grandeur  in  it  than  a 
kingly  one.  Every  honest  delegate  is  more  than  a  mon- 
arch." "  Can  America  be  happy  under  a  government  of 
her  own  is  short  and  simple  ?  As  happy  as  she  please. 
She  hath  a  blank  sheet  to  write  upon.  Put  it  not  off  too 
long."  J  "  What  do  arguments  avail  against  plain  facts  ? " 
was  again  urged  by  the  young  statesman  of  New  York. 
"  Upon  whom  do  the  continental  bills  that  pass  current 
through  the  country  depend  ?  By  whom  are  they  emit- 
ted ?  We  are  independent  in  fact."  §  Judge  Drayton  in 
South  Carolina  charged  a  grand  jury  fully  on  the  doc- 
trines of  allegiance  and  abdication,  and  drew  a  part  of 
the  outline  of  the  declaration  of  independence  in  its  very 
words.  ||  "  It  is  my  duty  boldly  to  declare  the  law,  that 
George  the  Third,  king  of  Great  Britain,  has  abdicated  the 
government,  and  that  the  throne  is  thereby  vacant ;  that 
is,  he  has  no  authority  over  us,  and  we  owe  no  obedience 

*  "  Plain  Hints."     March  13,  1776.  f  A  Planter,  April  6,  1776. 

J  Cato,  No.  3.     April  20,  1776. 
§  To  inhabitants  of  New  York.     April  11,  1776. 
[  American  Archives,  v.  1026.     April  23,  1776. 
VOL.  I.— 8 


114:  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1770 

to  him.'1     "The  Almighty  created  America  to  be  inde- 
pendent of  Great  Britain." 

"  Considering  the  perfidy  and  obstinacy  of  the  king,  is 
not,"  asked  New  York,  "  a  declaration  of  independence 
of  the  crown  as  just  a  measure  now,  as  a  declaration  of 
independence  upon  the  Parliament  was  some  years  ago? " * 

"  My  hand  and  heart  are  full  of  it,"  wrote  the  clear, 
strong-minded  Hawley  from  among  the  hills  of  western 
Massachusetts.  "  There  will  be  no  abiding  UNION  without 
it.  When  the  colonies  come  to  be  pressed  with  taxes, 
they  will  divide  and  crumble  to  pieces.  Will  a  govern- 
ment stand  on  recommendations?  Can  we  subsist  and 
support  our  trading  people  without  trade  ?  It  appears 
more  and  more  every  day  in  the  country  and  army  that 
we  cannot.  Nay,  without  a  real  continental  government 
our  army  will  overrun  us ;  and  people  will,  by  and  by, 
sooner  than  you  may  be  aware  of,  call  for  their  old  con- 
stitutions. For  God's  sake,  let  there  be  a  full  revolution,  or 
all  is  done  in  vain.  Independency  and  a  well-planned  gov- 
ernment will  save  us.  God  bless  you.  Amen  and  amen."  f 

"  We  have  passed  the  rubicon,  there  is  no  retreat," 
was  told  to  hesitating  men  in  Pennsylvania.  "  My  prayer 
is,  that  America  may  rise  triumphant,  blossom  as  the  rose, 
and  swell  with  increasing  splendor  like  the  growing  beau- 
ties of  the  spring,  bearing  in  her  right  hand  the  great 
charter  of  salvation — the  Gospel  of  the  Heavenly  Jesus ; 
and  in  her  left  the  unfolded  volumes  of  peace,  liberty  and 
truth."  J 

And  now  Rhode  Island,  with  the  wise  boldness  of  her 
tolerant  founder,  and  in  the  free  spirit  a  wide,  now  re- 
stricted, commerce  had  cultured,  repealed  the  act  "  for 

*  American  Archives,  New  York,  April  25,  1776. 

f  Joseph  Hawley  to  Elbridge  Gerry,  May  1  — A  merican  Archives. 

|  Cosmopolitan,  No.  x.     May.—  Ib'd. 


^T.  19.]  HAMILTON.  H5 

more  effectual  securing  allegiance  to  his  majesty,"  and 
enacted  oaths  of  allegiance  to  "  the  governor  and  colony 
of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence  plantations." 

Congress,  a  mere  emanation  of  the  people,  felt  the 
strong  tide  of  public  feeling.  On  the  third  of  March  the 
secret  committee  instructed  Silas  Deane  to  inform  France, 
"  that  if  we  should,  as  there  is  great  appearance  that  we 
shall,  come  to  a  total  separation  from  Great  Britain, 
France  would  be  looked  upon  as  the  power  whose  friend- 
ship it  would  be  fittest  for  us  to  obtain  and  to  cultivate." 
The  inducements  held  out  were  the  benefits  of  trade. 
The  immediate  aids  asked  were  clothing  and  arms  for 
twenty-five  thousand  men,  with  ammunition,  and  one  hun- 
dred field-pieces. 

As  the  powers  exercised  by  the  Congress  were  .n  vir- 
tue of  commissions  from  the  popular  representatives  of 
the  several  colonies,  and  revocable  by  them  ;  and  as  the 
organization  of  a  general  government  would  be  attended 
with  delay,  difficulty  and  doubt ;  the  immediate  step  to  be 
taken  was  the  formation  of  governments  by  each  colony, 
necessary  alike  to  the  protection  of  their  civil  rights,  and  to 
the  exertion  of  their  respective  energies  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  war.  The  recommendations  to  South  Carolina 
and  to  Virginia  had  been,  to  establish  governments  to  ef- 
fect these  objects  "  during  the  continuance  of  the  present 
disputes"  A  larger  and  farther  view  was  now  taken. 
On  the  tenth  of  May,  recommendations  were  made  to 
every  colony  where  no  government  sufficient  to  the  exi- 
gencies of  their  affairs  had  been  established,  "  to  adopt  such 
government  as  shall,  in  the  opinion  of  the  representatives 
of  the  people,  best  conduce  to  the  happiness  and  safety  of 
their  constituents  in  particular,  and  AMERICA  IN  GEN- 
ERAL." Thus  there  was  no  limitation  as  to  the  continu- 
ance of  these  governments ;  and  they  were  to  embrace 


116  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1776 

the  welfare,  not  merely  of  the  people  of  each  colony,  but 
"  of  America  in  general." 

The  object  of  this  recommendation  was  stated  in  a 
preamble  to  it  which  was  agreed  to  five  days  after.* 

Referring  to  the  late  act  of  Parliament  excluding  the 
"  inhabitants  of  these  united  colonies  from  the  protection 
of  the  crown,"  to  the  entire  disregard  of  their  late  peti- 
tion, "  to  the  exertion  of  the  whole  force  of  the  kingdom 
of  Great  Britain,  aided  by  foreign  mercenaries,  for  the 
destruction  of  the  good  people  of  these  colonies,"  it  stated 
as  irreconcilable  to  reason  and  good  conscience  the  taking 
oaths  of  allegiance  to  the  crown — the  necessity  that  the 
exercise  of  every  authority  under  the  crown  should  be 
totally  suppressed ;  and  that  all  the  powers  of  govern- 
ment must  be  exerted,  under  the  authority  of  the  PEOPLE 
of  the  colonies,  for  the  preservation  of  internal  peace, 
virtue,  and  good  order,  as  well  as  for  the  defence  of  their 
lives,  liberties  and  properties,  against  the  hostile  invasions 
and  cruel  depredations  of  their  enemies,  and  with  these 
views,  and  for  these  ends  recommended,  that  governments 
in  each  colony  be  formed.  This  resolution,  ordered  to  be 
published,!  was  *n  ^act  a  RESOLUTION  of  INDEPENDENCE. 
It  had  been  anticipated  and  authorized  by  the  instructions 
of  Massachusetts,  of  South  Carolina,  North  Carolina, 
Georgia  and  Rhode  Island. 

On  the  day  of  its  passage,  Virginia,  in  convention,  in- 
structed her  delegates  to  propose  to  Congress  a  DECLARA- 
TION Of  INDEPENDENCE. 

Sanctioned  by  the  instructions  of  these  colonies,  war- 
ranted by  decisive  indications  of  public  opinion  through 
the  press,  enforced  by  the  inconveniences  of  their  inex- 
plicit condition,  and  prompted  by  the  obvious  advantages 

*  May  15,  1776. 

+  The  committee  were  John  Adams,  Rutledge,  R.  H.  Lee. 


/Er.  19.]  HAMILTON.  LIT 

of  open  explicit  acts,  on  the  seventh  of  June,  three  reso- 
lutions were  presented  to  Congress  for  consideration. 
The  first  resolved,  "  that  these  colonies  are,  and  of  right 
ought  to  be,  FREE  and  INDEPENDENT  STATES,  that  they  are 
absolved  from  all  allegiance  to  the  British  crown,  and  that 
all  political  connection  between  them  and  the  State  of 
Great  Britain  is,  and  ought  to  be,  totally  dissolved."  This 
resolution  was  offered  by  Richard  Henry  Lee  under  the 
recent  instructions  from  Virginia,  adopting  as  her  own  the 
very  language  of  her  neighbor,  North  Carolina,  and  was 
seconded  by  Massachusetts.  The  second  resolution  de- 
clared, "  that  it  is  expedient  to  take  the  most  effectual 
measures  for  forming  foreign  alliances,"  and  the  third, 
"  that  a  plan  of  confederation  be  proposed  and  transmitted 
to  the  respecive  colonies,  for  their  approval  and  adop- 
tion." 

On  the  two  following  days,  these  resolutions  were 
considered.  That  of  independence,  several  of  the  colonies 
not  having  yet  authorized  the  measure,  was  postponed 
until  the  first  of  July.  "  That  no  time  be  lost  in  case 
Congress  agree  thereto,"  a  committee  was  appointed  the 
next  day  to  prepare  a  declaration  of  it.  The  committee 
were  Thomas  Jefferson  of  Virginia,  John  Adams  of  Massa- 
chusetts, Benjamin  Franklin  of  Pennsylvania,  Roger  Sher- 
man of  Connecticut,  and  Robert  R.  Livingston  of  New 
York. 

Committees  were  also  ordered  to  prepare  a  form  of 
confederation,  and  a  plan  of  treaties. 

In  the  interval  of  their  reports,  a  "  Board  of  War  and 
Ordnance  "  was  established,  composed  of  a  committee  of 
Congress,  John  Adams,  Sherman,  Harrison,  Wilson,  E. 
Rutledge.* 

A  resolution,  believed  to  have  been  suggested  at  head- 

*  June  13. 


118  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1776. 

quarters,  was  also  adopted.  It  declared  that  "  all  persons 
abiding  within  any  of  the  united  colonies  and  deriving 
protection  from  its  laws,  owe  allegiance  to  those  laws,  and 
are  members  of  such  colony,  and  also  persons  passing 
through  it,  or  sojourning  temporarily,  and  that  all  such 
persons  levying  war  against  any  of  the  colonies  within 
them,  or  adhering  to  the  king  of  Great  Britain  or  other 
enemies  of  it,  or  any  of  them,  within  it,  giving  him  or 
them  aid  or  comfort,  "  guilty  of  TREASON."  The  legisla- 
tures of  the  several  States  were  recommended  to  pass 
laws  for  punishing  such  treasons,  and  also  persons  coun- 
terfeiting or  passing  counterfeit  continental  bills  of 
credit. 

Three  days  after,  on  the  twenty-eighth  of  June,  a 
draught  of  a  declaration  of  independence  was  read  and 
laid  on  the  table. 

On  the  first  of  July,  all  the  colonies,  excepting  New 
York,  having  now  authorized  the  measure,  the  resolution 
of  independence  was  considered  in  committee,  reported 
to  the  House,  and  passed  the  next  day,  when  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence  was  considered.  It  was  approved 
on  the  fourth  by  eleven  colonies,  the  assent  of  New  York 
being  deferred  for  want  of  power  in  its  delegates  until  the 
fifteenth,  when  they,  being  duly  empowered,  also  gave  its 
sanction. 

Being  signed  by  all  the  members  of  Congress  with  two 
exceptions,*  it  was  duly  authenticated. 

This  national  manifesto  was  hailed  with  exultation 
throughout  the  United  States.  Washington  ordered  it  to 
be  published  at  the  head  of  every  division  of  the  troops. 
In  New  England  that  office  Was  performed  by  the  clergy, 

*  January,  1777.  Thomas  McKean  subsequently  added  his  signature. 
John  Dickinson  withheld  his  signature.  The  resolution  of  the  N.  York  con- 
vention of  9th  of  July,  was  reported  by  John  Jay,  and  unanimously  approved. 


MT.  19.]  HAMILTON.  119 

who,  on  the  previous  Sunday,  had  read  it  to  their  people 
from  their  desks. 

Rejoicings  were  heard  in  every  city,  town  and  hamlet, 
and  the  great  Presbyterian  seat  of  learning  resorted  to  by 
the  youth  of  North  America,  Nassau  Hall,  known  as 
Princeton  College,  was  illuminated. 

The  New  York  convention  ordered  it  to  be  published 
with  beat  of  drum.  The  patriots  of  that  city  exhibited 
their  zeal  by  mutilating  the  equestrian  statue  of  the  king, 
and  laying  its  fragments  in  the  dust,  soon  to  be  converted 
into  bullets. 

Such  was  the  general  feeling,  but  there  were  many, 
some  from  unworthy,  others  from  noble  motives,  unwilling 
to  abandon  their  allegiance,  and  anxious  to  see  restored 
the  power  of  the  crown. 


CHAPTER    V. 

ENGLAND  as  yet  had  made  no  advance  towards  her  object. 
Canada  she  held,  but  she  had  evacuated  Massachusetts,  and 
had  failed  in  her  attempt  upon  Charleston.  Her  maraud- 
ing incursions  had  only  exasperated  the  colonists,  confirm- 
ing their  opposition.  Finding  the  resistance  more  deter- 
mined than  she  had  been  led  to  expect,  her  monarch  resolved 
to  make  an  effort  commensurate  with  her  great  resources. 
Strengthened  by  his  German  auxiliaries,  he  decided  to 
throw  a  powerful  army  into  New  York,  and  thus  termi- 
nate the  contest  in  a  single  campaign.  One  body  landed 
on  the  seaboard,  co-operating  with  another  advancing 
from  Canada,  would,  it  was  supposed,  defy  all  opposition 
and  dissever  the  colonies.  At  the  same  time  an  entire 
suspension  of  trade  was  to  impoverish,  and  reduce  them 
to  submission.  In  this  view  she  was  complaining  to 
France  and  Spain  of  the  illicit  commerce  with  her  colonial 
ports. 

Relying  upon  their  maritime  skill  and  prowess  to  force 
a  trade,  the  only  coveted  supplies  throughout  the  United 
States  were  instruments  of  war.  The  only  cry  was 
"  powder." 

Foreseeing  that  the  course  of  events  was  leading  to  an 
open  rupture,  Hamilton,  during  the  previous  winter,  ap- 
plied himself  to  the  study  of  arms ;  and  before  any  steps 
were  taken  to  organize  a  regular  force,  had  by  great  assr- 


^ET.  19.]  HAMILTON.  121 

duity,  made  such  progress  as  books  and  the  instruction  of 
a  British  bombardier  would  enable  him,  in  the  knowledge 
of  pyrotechnics  and  gunnery.  Thus  prepared,  he  asked 
the  command  of  the  company  of  artillery  ordered  to  be 
raised  by  the  convention  of  New  York. 

Doubts  of  his  fitness  being  entertained,  he  was  exam- 
ined, his  friend  McDougall  being  present,*  and  on  the 
fourteenth  of  March,  seventy-six,  was  appointed  "  CAPTAIN 
of  the  provincial  company  of  artillery."  He  "recruited 
his  men,  and  with  the  remnant  of  the  second  and  last  re- 
mittance from  his  relatives  in  Santa  Cruz  having  equip- 
ped"! them,  his  company  was  attached  to  General  Scott's 
brigade.  J 

His  first  letters  to  the  convention  relate  to  discrimina- 
tions between  the  State  and  Continental  troops.  These 
were  followed  by  a  communication  in  August,  asking 
them  to  fill  a  vacancy,  in  which  he  suggested  the  policy 
of  advancing  officers  in  succession  from  the  lowest  grades. 
"  I  would  beg  the  liberty,"  he  wrote,  "  warmly  to  recom- 
mend to  your  attention  the  first  sergeant  in  my  company 
— a  man  highly  deserving  of  notice  and  preferment.  He 
has  discharged  his  duty  in  his  present  station  with  uncom- 
mon fidelity,  assiduity,  and  expertness ;  he  is  a  very  good 
disciplinarian,  possesses  the  advantage  of  having  seen  a 
good  deal  of  service  in  Germany,  and  has  a  tolerable 
share  of  common  sense.  In  a  word,  I  verily  believe  he 
will  make  an  excellent  lieutenant,  and  his  advancement 
will  be  a  great  encouragement  and  benefit  to  my  company 
in  particular,  and  will  be  an  animating  example  to  all  men 
of  merit  to  whose  knowledge  it  comes." 

This  suggestion,  of  which  the  important  principle,  not 
admitted  in  the  routine  system  of  Great  Britain,  has  since 

*  American  Archives.  f  Mulligan's  Narrative. 

%  Journal  of  New  York  Provincial  Congress. 


122  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1776. 

had  a  powerful  influence  in  advancing  the  military  ser- 
vice of  other  countries,  was  adopted  by  the  convention. 
The  brave  sergeant  was  promoted  to  a  lieutenancy,  and 
rising  to  the  command  of  a  company,  Captain  Thompson 
fell  in  the  battle  of  Springfield  at  the  head  of  his  men, 
having  gallantly  repulsed  a  desperate  charge  of  the  ene- 
my. Acting  upon  this  suggestion,  a  general  resolution 
was  published  by  the  convention,  assuring  "promotion  to 
such  privates  and  non-commissioned  officers  as  should  dis- 
tinguish themselves."  Hamilton  seems  not  to  have  permit- 
ted the  duties  of  his  military  profession  to  divert  him 
wholly  from  the  prosecution  of  his  previous  studies.  The 
"  pay  book  "  of  his  company  gives  an  interesting  exhibi- 
tion of  his  train  of  thought.  With  minutes  of  works  to 
be  read,  are  found  notes  relating  to  commerce ;  to  the 
"rates  of  exchange  ;"  the  "money  circulation,"  the  "pro- 
portions in  it  of  gold  and  silver ; "  "  the  par  between  land 
and  labor  ; "  the  "  increase  of  population  ; "  "  tables  of  ob- 
servations exhibiting  the  probabilities  of  life."  Among 
these  is  found  this  striking  inquiry,  indicating  how  early 
his  mind  was  directed  to  the  organization  of  a  general  gov- 
ernment with  effective  independent  powers.  "Quere, 
Would  it  not  be  advisable  to  let  all  taxes,  even  those  im- 
posed by  the  States,  be  collected  by  persons  of  congres- 
sional appointment ;  and  would  it  not  be  advisable  to  pay 
the  collectors  so  much  per  cent,  on  the  sums  collected  ? "  * 
This  is  the  initiative  idea  of  a  general  government,  truly 
such,  which  he  first  proposed  to  Congress,  and  earnestly 
advocated.  Among  his  papers,  there  also  remains  a  care- 
fully digested  outline  of  a  plan  for  the  political  and  com- 
mercial history  of  British  America  compiled  at  this  time. 
Thus  early  were  collected  those  stores  of  knowledge 
which  his  powerful  intellect  soon  after  applied  to  the  con- 

*  Works  of  Hamilton,  i.  pp.  4—7. 


JET.  19.]  HAMILTON.  123 

dition  of  the  rising  republic,  and  rapidly  matured  into  re- 
sults of  extensive  utility. 

But  the  term  of  these  studies  was  soon  at  an  end. 
On  the  same  day  that  the  resolution  of  independence  was 
passed  by  Congress,  General  Howe,  brother  of  the  Lord 
Howe  who  fell  on  the  border  of  Lake  George,  succeeding 
General  Gage  in  the  chief  command,  landed  in  the  vicin- 
ity of  New  York. 

This  important  post  had  been  confided  to  different 
officers  in  rapid  succession,  Schuyler,  Lee,  Stirling,  until 
Washington  in  April  made  it  his  head-quarters.  He 
found  some  works  completed,  others  in  progress.  His 
troops,  many  of  them  badly  armed,  were  in  number  eight 
thousand  fit  for  duty,  thus  reduced  by  detachments  to 
Canada,  and  by  retirements  from  the  service. 

Regarding  New  York  as  "  the  grand  magazine  of 
America,"  he  immediately  pressed  for  reinforcements ; 
urged  longer  enlistments  ;  called  for  funds  ;  and  indicated 
the  necessity  of  measures  to  control  the  disaffected. 

His  requests  were  promptly  acceded  to.  A  body  of 
fourteen  thousand  men  were  ordered  to  join  him,  and  a 
flying  camp  was  to  be  formed  of  ten  thousand  men  called 
the  "  new  levies,"  to  operate  in  the  middle  colonies.  But 
the  men  to  compose  this  force  were  not  obtained.  The 
enemy  were  now  strengthened  by  the  return  of  the  de- 
tachment under  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  grandson  of  the  Earl 
of  Lincoln,  and  son  of  the  former  obnoxious  governor  of 
New  York,  after  his  repulse  at  Charleston ;  and  ere  long, 
by  the  arrival  of  a  large  fleet  under  Lord  Howe,  convey- 
ing British  regiments  and  their  auxiliaries,  which  swelled 
the  entire  number  to  thirty  thousand  disciplined  troops. 

Tryon  exulted  in  the  prospect  of  an  immediate  reduc- 
tion of  the  colonies.  He  wrote  Lord  George  Germain  in 
the  beginning  of  August,  "I  expect  by  the  courage  and 


124:  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1776. 

strength  of  this  noble  army,  tyranny  will  be  crushed  and 
legal  government  restored." 

Washington  was  at  the  same  moment  discountenancing 
the  jealousies  which  had  arisen  between  the  troops  from 
the  Eastern  and  Southern  provinces,  now  first  assembled 
under  "  the  Great  Union  flag."  *  "  Let  all  distinctions  of 
nations,  countries  and  provinces,  be  lost  in  the  generous 
contest  who  shall  behave  with  the  utmost  courage  against 
the  enemy,  and  the  most  kindness  and  good  humor  to  each 
other." — "  They  have  now  landed  on  Long  Island.  Re- 
member, officers  and  soldiers,  that  you  are  freemen,  fight- 
ing for  the  blessings  of  liberty.  Remember  how  your 
courage  and  spirit  have  been  despised  and  traduced  by 
your  cruel  invaders,  though  they  have  found  by  dear  ex- 
perience what  a  few  brave  men,  contending  in  their  own 
land,  and  in  the  best  of  causes,  can  do  against  hirelings 
and  mercenaries.  Be  cool,  but  determined.  Do  not  fire 
at  a  distance,  but  wait  for  orders  from  your  officers.  It 
is  the  general's  express  order,  that  if  any  man  attempt  to 
skulk,  lie  down,  or  retreat  without  orders,  he  be  instantly 
shot  down  as  an  example."  f 

The  reinforcements  from  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania 
now  came  in,  moved  forward  gayly  to  their  post,  giving 
promise  of  the  good  courage  they  displayed. 

The  defenceless  condition  of  New  York,  at  this  time 
boasting  its  million  of  inhabitants,  a  great  centre  of  na- 
tions, then  containing  about  twenty  thousand  souls,  was 
the  result  of  the  half-peace,  half-war,  hitherto  waged. 

*  It  combined  "  the  crosses  of  St.  George  and  St.  Andrew  united  (the  dis- 
tinctive emblem  of  the  united  kingdoms  of  Great  Britain),  with  a  field  com- 
posed of  thirteen  stripes,  alternate  red  and  white,  called  the  '  Great  Union 
Flag.' '' — History  of  the  National  Flag,  by  Schuyler  Hamilton,  Capt.  by  brevet, 
U.  S.  A.,  and  aide-de-camp  to  Gen.  Winfield  Scott. 

f  August  23,  1776. 


MT.  19.]  HAMILTON.  125 

The  access  to  il  seaward  was  open,  nor  were  there  means 
to  prevent  it.  It  was  at  the  mercy  of  a  fleet.  But  the 
approach  of  a  land  force  might  have  been  rendered  diffi- 
cult. It  could  only  be  by  way  of  Long  Island,  where, 
intrenched  works  thrown  up  along  its  eminences,  though 
manned  by  inexperienced  troops,  would  have  presented 
formidable  obstacles.  A  resistance  such  as  Lexington 
and  Bunker  Hill,  would  have  sustained  the  confidence  of 
the  people,  and  again  have  checked  the  enemy. 

If  baffled  here,  it  would  only  have  remained  to  them 
to  assail  the  more  defenceless  parts  of  the  country,  while 
New  England  and  New  York,  holding  their  chief  resources 
for  opportune  moments  in  aid  of  the  Southern  States, 
might  have  stricken  a  decisive  blow  in  Canada. 

Probably  in  these  views,  the  heights  of  Brooklyn,  then 
a  small  village  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Sound,  oppo- 
site New  York,  had  been  in  part  intrenched.  Though  the 
natural  advantages  of  this  post  were  not  few,  the  exten- 
sive line  of  approach  rendered  a  division  of  the  defensive 
force  unavoidable,  and  being  assailable  in  several  points, 
the  utmost  vigilance  was  requisite.  Unhappily,  General 
Greene,  charged  with  the  command  upon  Long  Island,  and 
familiar  with  the  ground,  was  taken  ill,  and  it  was  trans- 
ferred to  Putnam.  A  few  horsemen,  employed  as  scouts  in 
the  absence  of  cavalry,  would  have  prevented  a  surprise. 
This  precaution  was  not  taken,*  and  notwithstanding  re- 
cent written  instructions  to  him,  that  "  the  woods  should  be 

*  General  Sullivan  wrote,  Whitemarsh,  25th  Oct.,  1777 :  "  Gen.  Putnam 
had  taken  the  command  from  me  four  days  before  the  action.  *  *  *  I  was 
uneasy  about  a  road,  through  which,  /  had  often  foretold,  that  the  enemy 
would  come,  but  could  not  persuade  others  to  be  of  my  opinion.  I  went  to  the 
hill  near  Flatbush  to  reconnoitre,  and  with  a  picket  of  four  hundred  men,  was 
surrounded  by  the  enemy,  who  had  advanced  by  the  very  road  I  had  foretold,  and 
which  I  had  paid  horsemen  fifty  dollars  for  patrolling  by  night,  while  I  had 
the  command,  for  I  had  no  foot  for  the  purpose." 


126  THE    REPUBLIC.  [ITT'J. 

secured  by  abatis,  where  necessary,  to  make  the  enemy's 
approach  as  difficult  as  possible,"  a  small  patrol  of  foot 
was  only  ordered,  which  was  surprised  and  captured.  A 
pass  that  opened  to  the  intrenched  works  was  "  unoccu- 
pied," and  while  the  advances  of  the  left  and  centre  of  the 
British  were  disputed  by  raw  troops  with  great  gallantry, 
Sir  Henry  Clinton,  by  a  circuitous  route,  approached  and 
seized  this  pass. 

At  break  of  day  the  British  columns  had  crossed  the 
ridge,  which  with  a  gentle  eastern  slope  faces  the  ocean, 
inclining  gradually  on  the  west  towards  the  city,  through 
this  pass,  and  were  advanced  within  a  short  distance  of 
the  American  works.  Nothing  remained  but  to  retreat. 
Under  cover  of  a  fog,  this  retreat  was  effected  in  the 
dark,  Washington  personally  superintending.  The  whole 
detachment  crossed  the  Sound  in  boats  suddenly  pro- 
vided, with  the  loss  of  a  few  stragglers,  ere  the  enemy  dis- 
covered the  movement.  Hamilton  states,*  "  I  was  among 
the  last  of  our  army  that  left  the  city ;  the  enemy  was 
then  on  our  right  flank  between  us  and  the  main  body." 

The  result  of  this  action  disclosed  to  Washington  the 
weakness  and  disorganization  of  his  command,  and  filled 
his  mind  with  a  sad  presage  of  the  future.  He  writes  to 
Congress,  "  with  the  deepest  concern  I  am  obliged  to  con- 
fess my  want  of  confidence  in  the  generality  of  the 
troops."  But  the  inertness  of  Howe,  permitting  the  es- 
cape of  an  army  within  his  grasp,  was  also  disclosed. 

The  pregnant  question  as  to  the  course  to  be  pursued 
must  be  decided.  In  reply  to  apprehensions,  Washington 
had  declared,  prior  to  this  engagement,  that  "  nothing  but 
the  last  necessity,  and  such  as  should  justify  me  to  the 
whole  world,  would  induce  me  to  give  orders  to  fire  the 
city."  He  now  wrote  to  Congress,  "  Till  of  late  I  had  no 

*  Hamilton's  testimony  on  Arnold's  trial,  p.  27. 


MT.  19.J  HAMILTON".  127 

doubt  in  my  own  mind  of  defending  this  place  ;  nor  would 
I  have  yet  if  the  men  would  do  their  duty,  but  this  I  de- 
spair of.  If  we  should  be  obliged  to  abandon  the  town, 
ought  it  to  stand  as  winter-quarters  for  the  enemy  ?  They 
would  derive  great  conveniences  from  it  on  the  one  hand, 
and  much  property  would  be  destroyed  on  the  other.  It 
is  an  important  question,  but  will  admit  of  little  time  for 
deliberation.  At  present,  I  dare  say,  the  enemy  mean  to 
prevent  it  if  they  can.  If  Congress,  therefore,  should 
resolve  upon  the  destruction  of  it,  the  resolution  should  be 
a  profound  secret,  as  the  knowledge  of  it  will  make  a 
capital  change  in  their  plans." 

Far  better  would  it  have  been,  had  New  York  been 
consigned  to  flames.  The  disaffected,  who  held  through- 
out the  contest  the  seaboard  of  this  State  in  abeyance, 
driven  forth,  would  have  felt  in  their  wanderings  there 
would  be  no  parley  with  them.  England  would  have  lost 
all  the  advantages  of  this  central  position,  and  might 
have  been  stayed  in  her  attempt  to  subjugate,  by  this  evi- 
dence of  desperate  determination.  "  I  wish,"  wrote  Jay 
soon  after,  "our  army  well  stationed  in  the  Highlands, 
and  all  the  lower  country  desolated."  *  Congress  not  ad- 
vising this  decisive  act,  the  next  question  was,  whether  an 
effort  should  be  made  to  hold  the  city.  Greene  strenu- 
ously urged  an  immediate  evacuation.  "  A  general  and 
speedy  retreat  is  absolutely  necessary.  The  honor  and 
interest  of  America  require  it ;  I  would  burn  the  city  and 
suburbs.  If  the  enemy  gets  possession  of  the  city,  we 
can  never  recover  possession  without  a  superior  naval 
force.  It  will  deprive  the  enemy  of  an  opportunity  of  bar- 
racking their  whole  army  together,  which,  if  they  could 
do  it,  would  be  a  very  great  security.  It  will  deprive 
them  of  a  general  market.  All  these  advantages  would 

*  Life  of  Jay,  ii.  7. 


128  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1770. 

result  from  the  destruction  of  the  city,  and  not  one  ben- 
t  fit  can  arise  from  its  preservation  that  I  can  conceive." 
A  council  of  war  was  called  by  Washington.  They  ad- 
vised the  attempt  to  hold  it  "  a  while  longer,"  by  a  part 
of  the  force"*  On  the  petition  of  Greene  and  six  other 
officers,  a  second  council  was  called,  and  a  large  majority  f 
declared  for  a  removal.  The  reasons  assigned  for  this 
decision  were  such  as  ought  to  have  governed  in  the  for- 
mer council.J  The  army  was  thus  rescued  from  a  ca- 
pitulation. Nor  was  the  decision  made  too  soon.  While 
Washington  was  removing,  ships  of  war  had  advanced 
up  both  the  waters  that  bound  the  island  of  New  York, 
and  bodies  of  the  enemy  had  crossed  the  Sound  and  land- 
ed at  Kipp's  bay.§  At  their  first  appearance,  a  party 
of  militia  abandoned  their  breastworks,  and  were  fol- 
lowed "  by  two  brigades  of  Putnam's  Connecticut  troops," 
in  a  disorderly  retreat,  leaving  the  commander-in-chief, 
who  in  vain  sought  to  check  them,  in  great  danger  of  be- 
ing captured,  || — dastard  conduct,  only  redeemed  by  that 
of  the  following  day,  when  the  gallant  Knowlton  fell. 

Washington  now  took  a  strong  position  on  the  heights 
of  Haerlem,  extending  his  lines  across  the  Island  of  New 
York,  covered  by  temporary  defences. 

At  this  place  Captain  Hamilton  first  attracted  his  ob- 
servation. On  the  inspection  of  an  earthwork  he  was 

*  Washington's  Writings,  iii.  85. 

f  The  dissenting  voices  were  Generals  George  Clinton,  Heath,  and  Spen- 
cer.—/^. 92. 

J  Minutes  of  Council,  Aug.  29,  1776. 

§  "  It  crossed  in  open  flat-boats,  filled  with  soldiers  standing  erect,  their  arms 
all  glittering  in  the  sunbeams.  They  approached  the  British  fleet  in  Kipp'g 
Bay,  in  the  form  of  a  crescent,  caused  by  the  force  of  the  tide  breaking  the 
Intended  line  of  boat  after  boat." — Watson's  Annals  of  City  of  New  York, 
p.  825. 

|  Washington's  Writings,  iii.  94 — note. 


J2T.  19.]  HAMILTON.  120 

throwing  up,  the  commander-in-chief  entered  into  con- 
versation with  him,  invited  him  to  his  tent,  and  received 
an  impression  of  his  military  talent. 

It  became  the  policy  of  the  Americans,  while  holding 
the  enemy  in  check,  to  draw  him  into  separate  detach- 
ments, in  successive  skirmishes  to  profit  of  their  superior 
aim  and  activity,  and  of  their  better  knowledge  of  the 
country,  and  to  keep  up  their  confidence  by  a  system  of 
short  and  gradual  retreats  from  fastness  to  fastness — from 
river  beyond  river.  This  policy,  which  Hamilton  is  seen 
to  have  indicated,  their  situation  in  every  point  of  view 
demanded. 

An  opposite  line  of  conduct  was  obviously  that  of  the 
invader.  By  instant,  bold  and  rapid  movements  to  hem  in 
his  adversary,  and  force  him  into  immediate  general  ac- 
tion, assured  of  victory  by  his  superior  numbers,  discipline 
and  strategy. 

The  dispositions  contemplated  by  Washington  were 
modified  by  a  resolution  of  Congress,  by  every  means  to 
obstruct  the  navigation  of  the  Hudson.  In  this  view,  it 
was  determined  to  maintain  Fort  Washington  situate  on 
that  river,  ten  miles  from  New  York. 

North  of  that  city  lies  the  county  of  Westchester, 
bounded  on  the  west  by  the  Hudson,  east  by  the  Sound. 
From  each  bound  rising  towards  its  centre,  where  a  series 
of  hills  on  either  side  the  deep-seated  Bronx  continues  to 
the  base  of  the  Highland  crests.  The  banks  of  the  Hud- 
son are  bold.  The  borders  of  the  Sound  marshy,  with 
frequent  inlets  and  projecting  necks  or  points. 

On  the  lowest  of  these,  THROGS',  a  body  of  the  ene- 
my landed  on  the  twelfth  of  October,  which,  four  days 
after,  was  followed  by  Howe,  disembarking  on  another 
point  with  the  larger  part  of  his  army. 

Gallant  but  ineffectual  attempts  were  made  to  prevent 
VOL.  I.— 9 


130  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1776. 

his  progress  over  the  causeways.  Seeing  the  danger  of 
his  rear  being  gained,  Washington  called  a  council,  who 
resolved  to  change  their  position. 

To  cover  Fort  Washington  which  was  strongly  gar- 
risoned, and  to  command  the  Hudson,  the  Americans  were 
stationed  in  detached  parties  on  the  ridges  along  the  west- 
ern banks  of  the  Bronx  as  far  as  White  Plains,  where  a 
camp  was  being  fortified.  With  a  body  of  men  so  undis- 
ciplined and  unprovided,  no  position  could  have  been  more 
judiciously  selected.  Were  a  stand  to  be  made,  its  natural 
advantages  were  great ;  if  not,  none  afforded  a  better 
choice  of  change.  Of  the  roads  passing  through  it,  one 
was  open  to  Connecticut,  another  to  Dobb's  Ferry  upon 
the  Hudson  to  New  Jersey,  while  the  higher  elevations  in 
the  rear  offered  a  retreat  of  almost  absolute  security. 

Waiting  his  artillery  and  baggage,  Howe  did  not  move 
from  his  several  posts  near  the  Sound  until  the  twenty- 
first  of  October,  when,  having  been  joined  by  General 
de  Heister  with  the  German  mercenaries,  and  by  a  corps 
of  light  dragoons  under  Colonel  Harcourt,  he  advanced 
with  great  circumspection  to  a  well-guarded  station 
between  the  eminences  on  the  Bronx  and  upon  the  M am- 
aroneck. 

At  his  approach,  Washington  gathered  in  his  detached 
bodies  and  retired  to  his  previously  selected  post,  east  of 
the  Bronx.  This,  his  chief  encampment,  was  on  the  ele- 
vated grounds  north  of  the  little  village  of  White  Plains, 
protected  by  two  nearly  parallel  lines,  the  first  along  a 
road  to  Taivytown,  the  second  on  the  brow  of  a  hill  at 
the  junction  of  two  roads  leading  across  the  Croton  River 
into  the  Highlands. 

The  right  wing,  lying  on  a  hill  side  on  the  road  to  the 
west,  and  flanked  by  the  Bronx,  which  in  its  winding 
course  also  traversed  the  rear,  was  under  the  command 


JEi.  19.]  HAMILTON.  131 

of  Putnam  ;  the  left  rested  upon  another  hill  side  upon 
the  road  leading  to  New  England,  and  protected  in  part 
by  a  small  upland  lake,  was  in  charge  of  Heath.  Though 
the  confidence  of  the  Americans  had  been  raised  by 
several  successful  skirmishes,  Washington  wisely  doubted 
their  concert  and  steadiness  in  a  general  engagement ;  and 
was  reconnoitring  positions  more  difficult  of  access,  and 
better  adapted  to  the  kind  of  warfare  he  at  this  time  pre- 
ferred to  wage.  That  he  did  not  retire  earlier  and  farther, 
was  owing  to  his  inadequate  means  of  transporting  his 
many  sick,  and  his  military  stores. 

Activity  was  not  the  characteristic  of  Howe.  He  idly 
waited  three  days  within  a  short  distance  of  his  enemy, 
during  which  time  General  Lee  came  up  from  King's 
Bridge  with  the  rear  division  of  the  Americans,  and 
Washington  was  busy  strengthening  his  defences. 

Heath,  in  the  mean  time,  made  a  skilful  disposition  to 
secure  the  left  wing,  while  to  prevent  the  right  being 
enfiladed,  a  small  party  of  militia  was  ordered  to  occupy 
a  height  called  "  Chatterton's  Hill,"  nearly  half  a  mile 
south-west  of  the  Bronx,  over  which  was  a  communication 
in  the  rear  with  the  camp  by  an  easy  ford. 

On  the  twenty-seventh  of  October,  heavy  rolls  of 
cannon  from  below  aroused  the  Americans  to  a  quicker 
sense  of  danger, — perhaps  Fort  Washington  had  fallen — 
and  the  next  day  Washington  and  Lee  were  early  out  to 
select  a  position  less  accessible,  among  the  numerous  hills. 

A  horseman  announced  that  the  enemy  had  attacked 
the  out-guards,  and  that  the  troops  were  formed  for  ac- 
tion. Washington  galloped  to  the  camp,  and  so  it  was. 
At  the  dawn  of  this  soft  autumnal  day,  the  haze  still  hang- 
ing on  the  distant  heights,  Howe  in  two  columns  began 
his  march,  the  right  chiefly  British  under  Sir  Henry  Clin- 
ton, the  left  chiefly  Hessians  under  De  Heister.  The 


132  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1776. 

chasseurs  and  light-infantry  in  advance  drove  the  fore- 
most parties  of  the  Americans  back  into  their  intrench- 
ments.  The  columns  then  divided,  Heister  moving  to  the 
west,  Clinton  along  the  eastern  highway  to  the  village, 
with  a  few  dragoons  in  front. 

The  commanding  position  on  Chatterton's  Hill  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  Sir  William  Howe,  who,  from  its 
being  separated  by  the  Bronx  from  the  right  flank  of  the 
American  intrenchments,  supposed  its  defenders  might 
be  captured  or  dislodged  with  ease.  Orders  to  effect 
this  were  immediately  given  by  De  Heister.  Seeing  this 
hill  was  the  object  of  the  enemy,  Washington  ordered 
Colonel  Haslet  with  his  Delaware  regiment  *  to  join  the 
militia  posted  there  and  to  defend  it,  until  McDougall,  who 
had  been  directed  to  cover  the  division  under  Lee,  took 
the  command.  His  brigade  consisted  of  four  regiments, 
Smallwood's  "  blues  and  buffs  "  from  Maryland,  Ritzema's 
of  New  York,  Brooks's  Massachusetts  militia,  and  a  corps 
from  Connecticut.  Attached  to  it  was  the  single  New 
York  company  of  artillery  commanded  by  Captain  Ham- 
ilton. The  defenders  of  the  hill  were  now  sixteen  hun- 
dred men,  whom  McDougall  disposed  for  action — Brooks 
on  the  extreme  right  behind  a  stone  wall,  the  residue 
composing  the  centre  and  left. 

Towards  noon,  after  a  reconnaissance  and  a  council, 
Howe  seeing  the  strong  position  of  Heath,  resolved  to 
concentrate  his  efforts  upon  McDougall.  A  battery  placed 
in  position  now  opened  an  incessant  fire  upon  "  Chatterton's 
Hill,"  and  the  enemy's  left  deployed  towards  the  Bronx 
flowing  at  its  foot.  Rahle  then  moved  forward,  forded 
the  river  a  short  distance  below,  and  took  possession  of  an 
elevation  opening  upon  McDougall's  right.  A  battalion 
of  Hessians  was  now  directed  to  pass  the  Bronx  above, 

*  Called  "  The  Blue  Hen's  Chickens." 


vEr.  19.]  HAMILTON.  133 

supported  by  a  brigade  under  General  Leslie,  and  by  the 
Hessian  grenadiers  under  Count  Donop,  ordered  hither 
from  the  right,  and  to  attack  the  Americans  in  front. 

An  hour  after  noon,  the  head  of  the  advancing  column 
was  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Bronx,  swollen  by  recent 
rains,  its  bed  filled  with  frequent  wood  drifts.  The  Hes- 
sians refused  to  wade  the  tangled  stream,  and  a  temporary 
bridge  was  begun. 

McDougall  saw  the  hesitation,  and  instantly  Ritzeina 
and  Srnallwood  were  ordered  onward,  and  Hamilton  to 
open  his  artillery  upon  them  as  they  crossed.  He  forth- 
with descended  the  hill,  planting  his  two  field-pieces  upon 
a  ledge  of  rock  bearing  upon  the  bridge,  and  screened 
from  the  British  guns  by  a  covert  of  trees.  Thence  he 
poured  his  fire  upon  the  bridge.  The  effect  was  instan- 
taneous. The  bridge  was  repeatedly  struck.  Several  of 
the  workmen  killed,  fell  headlong  into  the  rapid  stream. 
The  Hessians  were  in  great  disorder.  Fearing  the  check, 
Leslie  appealed  to  the  loyalty  of  the  British  regiments  to 
follow  their  commander.  Leading  them  a  short  distance 
below,  they  crossed  the  little  river  by  a  ford,  and,  resolved 
to  capture  Hamilton's  guns,  rushed  up  the  hill  with  bayo- 
nets fixed.  Again  and  again  Hamilton's  pieces  flashed, 
riving  the  ascending  columns  down  to  the  river's  edge, 
Smallwood  discharging  repeated  rounds  of  musketry. 
Leslie's  troops  reeled,  and  fell  back  upon  the  soldiers 
moving  to  his  support.  The  Hessian  infantry  and  Do- 
nop's  grenadiers  now  crossed  the  completed  bridge,  emu- 
lating the  impetuous  courage  of  the  British  troops.  The 
enemy  united,  formed  a  line  parallel  with  the  Americans, 
and  again  rushed  up  the  hill,  checked  by  the  warm  com- 
bat in  their  determined  progress.  Rahl  now  appearing 
from  his  covered  height,  Brooks  changed  the  front  of  his 
militia,  faced,  and  threw  a  volley  in  upon  him.  They 


134  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1776. 

reloaded  and  were  about  to  repeat  their  fire,  when  Har- 
court's  light  dragoons,  with  kettle  drums  beating  and 
trumpets  braying,  came  charging  on.  The  militia,  panic- 
stricken  by  the  novel  sight,  fled  before  the  hurrying 
horse,  except  a  few  Massachusetts  men,  who  formed  in 
solid  mass,  and  offering  a  vain  resistance,  were  sabred  or 
escaped. 

A  slight  diversion  was  attempted  upon  the  American 
centre,  which  ought  to  have  been  the  point  of  attack,  but 
a  few  shot  dispersed  the  uncertain  horse. 

As  soon  as  the  militia  were  scattered  by  the  British 
dragoons,  a  part  of  McDougall's  brigade,  most  of  the  in- 
fantry, and  Hamilton's  artillery,  were  ordered  to  retire 
over  the  hill  side  towards  the  road  leading  in  their  rear. 
The  hill  top  being  meanwhile  gained,  the  Delaware  troops 
were  attacked ;  a  part  were  driven  across  the  Bronx,  the 
residue,  placed  by  Haslet  behind  a  fence,  were  firm. 
Twice  the  foremost  chasseurs  and  light-infantry  were  re- 
pulsed, when  the  dragoons,  returning  from  the  chase  of 
the  flying  men,  mounted  the  hill  and  were  again  about  to 
charge.  Few  in  number,  and  despairing  of  the  hill,  the 
militia  first,  and  then  Haslet's  remaining  men  retired, 
joining  the  troops  of  New  York  and  Maryland  who  had 
formed  near  by. 

Washington,  seeing  the  fierce  attack  upon  the  hill,  had 
ordered  Putnam  with  Beall's  brigade  to  the  support  of  its 
defenders,  but  coming  up  too  late,  he  took  a  position  on 
the  plain,  the  Bronx  on  his  right,  serving  as  a  diversion 
while  McDougall  marched  into  the  camp.  The  judicious 
choice  of  his  position,  the  precision,  rapidity  and  steadi- 
ness of  Hamilton's  fire,  his  cool  courage  in  this,  the  first 
military  action  of  his  life,  excited  admiration  towards  a  lad 
of  only  nineteen  years.  With  the  gallant  Brooks  a  last- 
ing friendship  was  formed,  and  McDougall,  amid  his  own 


2Ki.  19.]  HAMILTON.  135 

well-earned  laurels,  triumphed  in  the  young  soldier  for 
whom  he  had  vouched,  and  not  the  less  that  Scotland  was 
his  fatherland. 

The  determined  resistance  upon  this  hill  was  felt  by 
Howe.  This  contest,  short  as  it  was,  had  been  attended 
with  a  loss  on  each  side,  of  killed  and  wounded,  of  about 
three  hundred  men. 

Howe's  right  and  centre  lay  upon  their  arms  during 
the  night,  the  left  holding  the  hill  they  had  won.  Wash- 
ington spent  the  night  throwing  up  ledoubts,  felling  trees, 
forming  abatis,  fraising  his  breastworks. 

So  formidable  were  the  defences,  Howe  deferred  his 
intended  assault  upon  them,  waiting  the  arrival  of  Lord 
Percy  with  his  own  brigade  and  part  of  another,  raising 
in  the  mean  time  redoubts  to  command  the  American  lines. 
Late  on  the  thirtieth  the  reinforcements  came  up,  and  the 
next  morning  an  assault  was  to  be  made.  A  storm  arising, 
Howe  postponed  the  attempt. 

Washington,  while  preparing  against  a  sudden  onset, 
was  removing  his  hospital  and  baggage  to  the  eminences 
in  his  rear.  The  increased  strength  of  the  enemy  showed 
no  time  was  to  be  lost.  Having  fired  several  buildings 
containing  forage  and  stores  that  could  not  be  removed, 
he  retired  in  the  night  of  the  thirty-first,  leaving  a  rear- 
guard on  the  hills  and  in  the  woods,  and  formed  his  new 
lines  along  a  chain  of  rocky  heights  towards  North  Castle, 
facing  south,  on  which,  in  anticipation  of  his  purpose, 
earthworks  were  begun. 

The  next  morning  Howe  awakened  to  learn  his  enemy 
had  decamped.  A  reconnaissance  was  ordered,  columns 
were  advanced,  and  a  canonnade  was  opened  on  the  rear- 
guard, who  retired.  Four  days  after,  not  caring  to  incur 
the  loss  and  risk  of  an  assault  upon  the  Americans  in  their 
strongholds,  on  the  fifth  of  November,  he  abandoned 


136  THE  REPUBLIC.  [1776. 

"  Chatterton's  Hill,"  marched  to  Dobb's  Ferry,  and  ere 
sunset  of  the  sixth  encamped  on  the  elevated  bank  above, 
which  overlooks  the  fluted  palisades  of  the  Hudson. 

After  the  retreat  of  Washington  to  North  Castle,  and 
the  advance  of  Knyphausen  to  King's  Bridge,  it  is  stated 
that  Hamilton  was  selected  to  cover  a  post  in  the  vicinity 
of  Fort  Washington.  This  is  believed  to  be  an  error,  he 
was  not  detached. 

Washington  had  formed  an  opinion  which  was  an- 
nounced to  Congress,  "of  the  absolute  necessity!  of 
two  armies  being  organized,  one  to  act  in''the  States  lying 
on  the  east,  the  other  in  those  south  of  the  Hudson,  both 
to  be  raised  on  a  general  plan,  and  not  to  be  confined  to 
any  place  by  the  terms  of  enlistment."  This  probably 
was  a  concession  to  the  obstinate  jealousies  of  the  recent 
colonists.  Under  this  opinion,  Howe  being  in  motion 
towards  New  York,  he  left  the  eastern  troops  with  Lee  at 
North  Castle,  and  retired  to  Peekskill.  There,  having 
posted  a  corps  under  the  trusty  Heath  for  the  defence  of 
the  Highlands,  on  the  twelfth  of  November,  with  his 
small  force  he  crossed  the  Hudson  at  King's  Ferry,  this 
movement  being  sanctioned  by  Congress. 

The  body  with  him  was  composed  of  troops  from 
States  west  of  that  river. 

Believing  that  the  enemy  would  move  into  the  Jerseys, 
his  plan  now  was,  in  order  to  check  incursions,  to  quarter 
his  men  at  a  post  opposite  Fort  Washington,  and  also  at 
Newark,  Elizabethtown,  Amboy  and  New  Brunswick,  ex- 
pecting the  reinforcements  promised  by  Congress. 

At  this  moment  he  felt  a  heavy  blow  in  the  fall  of 
Fort  Washington  with  the  loss  of  two  thousand  men,  ar- 
tillery and  arms.  His  letters  depict  his  discouragement 

f  Col.  Harrison  to  Congress,  Oct.  25.—  Washington's  Writings,  iv.  524. 


^ET.  19.]  HAMILTON.  137 

and  mortification.  A  British  detachment  crossing  into 
Jersey,  he  retired  first  beyond  the  Hackensack,  and  thence 
to  Newark.  Here  was  held  a  council  of  war.  By  a 
force  so  unequal  and  insufficient,  retreat  was  inevitable. 
The  direction  was  differently  viewed.  By  some  of  the 
members  it  was  proposed  to  move  to  Morristown,  there 
to  form  a  junction  with  the  troops  who  were  expected  to 
wind  their  way  from  New  York  along  the  mountains  of 
Sussex.  But  Washington  and  Greene  united  in  the  more 
hazardous  and  intrepid  determination,  if  possible,  to  make 
a  stand  at  Brunswick ;  but,  at  all  events,  to  dispute  the 
passage  of  the  Delaware. 

After  a  short  repose,  with  a  body  not  exceeding  three 
thousand  men,  half-clothed,  many  badly  armed,  without 
cavalry,  debilitated  by  fatigue,  Washington  again  retreat- 
ed, closely  pursued  by  eight  thousand  troops  under  the 
command  of  Lord  Cornwallis. 

This  retreat  was  undisturbed  until  New  Brunswick 
was  approached.  There,  as  the  rear  of  the  Americans 
crossed  the  Raritan,  the  van  of  the  British  came  in  sight. 
A  "spirited  cannonade,"  in  which  Hamilton  took  part, 
checked  the  advance  of  the  enemy.  On  the  morning  of 
the  second  of  December  Howe  entered  New  Brunswick, 
the  Americans,  only  half  their  number,  having  reached 
Princeton. 

"  Well  do  I  recollect  the  day,"  said  a  friend,  "  when 
Hamilton's  company  marched  into  Princeton.  It  was  a 
model  of  discipline  ;  at  their  head  was  a  boy,  and  I  won- 
dered at  his  youth ;  but  what  was  my  surprise  when 
struck  with  his  slight  figure,  he  was  pointed  out  to  me  as 
that  Hamilton  of  whom  we  had  already  heard  so  much." 
"  I  noticed,"  a  veteran  officer  relates,  "  a  youth,  a  mere 
stripling,  small,  slender,  almost  delicate  in  frame,  march- 
ing beside  a  piece  of  artillery,  with  a  cocked  hat  pulled 


138  THE  EEPUBLIC.  [1776. 

down  over  his  eyes,  apparently  lost  in  thought,  with  his 
hand  resting  on  a  cannon,  and  every  now  and  then  pat- 
ting it,  as  if  it  were  a  favorite  horse  or  a  pet  plaything."  * 

He  continued  at  the  head  of  his  company,  which, 
from  its  exposure  and  losses  in  the  brilliant  enterprises 
of  Trenton  and  Princeton  was  reduced  to  twenty-five 
men,  until  the  first  of  March,  seventy-seven.  On  that 
day,  having,  at  the  instance  of  Washington,  accepted  a 
place  in  his  staff,  after  declining  the  overtures  of  other 
general  officers,f  he  was  announced,  in  orders,  aide-de- 
camp to  the  commander-in-chief  with  the  rank  of  lieuten- 
ant-colonel. 

The  American  head-quarters  were  now  at  Morris- 
town,  whither  Washington  had  retired  early  in  January, 
as  a  place  of  temporary  safety,  with  fragments  of  regi- 
ments. "  Here  was  seen,"  as  Hamilton  stated  with  regard 
to  the  enemy,  "  the  spectacle  of  a  powerful  army  strait- 
ened within  narrow  limits  by  the  phantom  of  a  military 
force,  and  never  permitted  to  transgress  those  limits  with 
impunity ;  in  which  skill  supplied  the  place  of  means,  and 
disposition  was  the  substitute  for  an  army." 

The  advantages  of  this  post,  selected  at  the  instance  of 
St.  Clair,  decided  his  remaining  there  until  the  opening  of 
the  next  campaign.  Protected  by  heights  difficult  of  ac- 
cess, and  by  extensive  heavy  forests  from  the  approach  of 
any  large  force,  it  was  within  striking  distance  of  Amboy, 
New  Brunswick  and  Newark,  the  present  positions  of  the 
enemy,  thus  held  in  check,  while  a  retreat  was  secured  by 
various  defiles  in  its  rear,  leading  to  a  fertile,  well-peopled 
country, 

*  Irving's  Washington,  ill  88.  f  Elias  Boudinot  to  Lord  Stirling. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

DEFICIENT  as  the  American  army  was  in  numbers,  and  thus 
reduced  to  inactivity,  the  severe  campaign  through  which 
it  had  passed,  had  the  happy  effect  of  disclosing  to  the  com- 
mander-in-chief  the  character  of  his  officers,  and  of  draw- 
ing around  him  in  a  common  devotion  to  its  cause,  the  most 
gallant  patriots  of  this  infant  nation. 

Environed  by  difficulties,  they  had  learned,  and  their 
example  had  taught  the  American  people  the  all-important 
lesson,  that  their  enemy  was  not  invincible  ;  while  their 
common  dangers  inspired  a  mutual  confidence,  which,  to- 
wards the  person  of  their  chief,  rose  to  enthusiasm. 

Indeed,  in  his  long  life  of  true  glory,  this  was  the  mo- 
ment when  Washington's  popularity  was  greatest.  The 
reverses  at  the  beginning  of  the  campaign  had  scarcely 
left  a  hope  for  America  of  successful  resistance.  But 
when,  in  the  language  of  Hamilton,  "  after  escaping  the 
grasp  of  a  disciplined  and  victorious  enemy,  this  little 
band  of  patriots  were  seen  skilfully  avoiding  an  engage- 
ment until  they  could  contend  with  advantage  ;  and  then, 
by  the  masterly  enterprises  of  Trenton  and  Princeton, 
cutting  them  up  in  detachments,  rallying  the  scattered 
energies  of  the  country,  infusing  terror  in  the  breasts  of 
their  invaders,  and  changing  the  whole  tide  and  current 


THE   REPUBLIC.  [1776. 

of  the  war,"  *  a  new  confidence  pervaded  the  nation,  and 
every  bosom  swelled  with  gratitude  to  Washington  and 
to  his  illustrious  companions. 

Time  with  its  unerring  contrasts  more  and  more  opens 
to  the  view  their  difficulties  and  their  merits.  Of  the 
former  a  narrative  in  some  detail  must  now  be  given. 

The  appointment  of  Charles  Lee,  a  native  of  England, 
who  had  served  in  America  in  the  war  of  fifty-six,  was  at 
the  instance  of  Washington. 

Of  a  romantic  temper,  this  soldier  of  fortune  sought 
distinction  in  the  most  remote  and  opposite  regions  of 
Europe,  serving  with  equal  zest  in  Portugal  against  the 
Spaniards  and  in  Poland  against  the  Turks.  Confident  of 
his  superiority,  he  endured  with  bitter  discontent  the  pre- 
ference, he  alleged,  on  his  native  soil,  interest  enjoyed 
over  unassisted  merit.  This  sense  of  disappointment 
rankled  in  his  breast.  Yielding  to  this  feeling  and  to  the 
impulses  of  a  wayward  nature,  he  became  an  impetuous 
republican.  Thus  swayed,  the  New  World  suddenly 
opened  an  unlimited  sphere  to  his  ambition.  It  \vas  the 
more  attractive  as  it  presented  to  him  the  prospect  of 
contending  in  arms  with  those  whom  patronage  had  pre- 
ferred to  him  ;  and  of  avenging  himself  upon  the  privi- 
leged orders  which  he  imagined  had  been  the  only  obsta- 
cles to  his  advancement.  Opinions  so  congenial  with 
those  beginning  to  prevail  in  America  strongly  recom- 
mended him,  and  from  an  over  value  of  his  experience  he 
was  placed  on  the  general  staff,  next  in  rank  to  Artemas 
Ward,  upon  whose  resignation  he  became  second  in  com- 
mand. 

Among  the  soldiery  of  New  England,  the  preferment 

*  When  Colonel  Rahl  wrote  to  General  Grant  for  more  troops  to  enable  him 
to  hold  his  posts  on  the  Delaware,  he  laughed  at  his  application,  and  sent  him 
word  that  "  he  could  keep  the  whole  Jersies  with  a  corporal  and  four  men." 


^E-r.  19.J  HAMILTON.  141 

of  Washington  to  the  chief  command  was  at  first'  regard- 
ed with  jealousy.*  The  very  qualities  which  fitted  him 
for  that  command  were  not  kindred  to  a  people  extremely 
jealous  of  their  individual  independence,  the  less  so,  be- 
cause exerted  to  reduce  that  independence  to  a  due  subor- 
dination. The  conflict  to  either  party  was  sore.  Ward 
was  believed  to  have  resigned,  unwilling  to  admit  Wash- 
ington his  superior,  and  discontented  feelings  clothed 
Lee  with  an  importance  he  little  deserved.  "You  ob- 
serve," wrote  John  Adams  of  Lee,  "  the  oddity  of  a  great 
man.  He  is  a  queer  creature,  but  you  must  love  his  dogs 
if  you  love  him,f  and  forgive  a  thousand  whims  for  the 
sake  of  the  soldier  and  the  scholar."  * 

The  great  man  resolved  to  become  greater,  and  only 
waited  some  reverse  of  Washington  to  mount  to  supreme 
command.  The  casualties  of  an  unprovided  war  often 
demanded  the  intervention  of  Congress.  Supposed  to 
wear  fortune  in  his  crest,  Lee  was  ordered  to  Canada  to 
retrieve  the  mishaps  there.  "We  want  you  at  New 
York,"  writes  John  Adams,  "  we  want  you  at  Cambridge, 
we  want  you  in  Virginia,  but  Canada  seems  of  more  im- 
portance than  any  of  those  places,  and  therefore  you  are 
sent  there."  Ten  days  after  he  was  sent  to  Charleston. 
"  After  a  warm  contest,"  Hancock  writes,  "  occasioned  by 
the  high  estimation  the  members  of  Congress  have  of  your 
wrorth  and  abilities,  every  one  wishing  to  have  you  where 
he  had  most  at  stake,  Congress  have  this  day  come  to  a 

*  J.  Adams  writes,  x.  36 :  "  The  appointment  of  Washington  to  the  com- 
mand in  1775  of  an  army  in  Cambridge,  consisting  altogether  of  New  England 
men,  over  the  head  of  officers  of  their  own  flesh  and  choice,  a  most  hazardous 
step,  was  another  instance  of  apparent  unanimity,  and  real  regret  in  nearly  one 
half." 

f  On  his  journey  to  Boston  with  Washington,  his  suite  was  eleven  poodle 
dogs. 

\  American  Archives,  July  24,  1775. 


142  THE   EEPUBLIC.  [1776. 

resolution  that  you  shall  take  the  command  of  the  south- 
ern department."  *  From  Charleston  he  was  ordered  to 
the  camp  at  Haerlem,  having  received  the  thanks  of  Con- 
gress, and  a  loan  for  his  success  at  the  South. 

Amid  all  this  intoxicating  favor,  such  were  his  eccen- 
tricities, that  he  soon  alarmed  those  who  guided  the  early 
councils  of  this  country  by  the  most  arbitrary  acts  and 
startling  indiscretions.  But,  nevertheless,  he  enjoyed  the 
confidence  of  the  people,  who  mistook  his  extravagances 
for  genius,  and  imagined  they  saw,  in  the  roughness  of  his 
manners  and  in  the  irregularities  of  his  mind,  evidences  of 
natural  resources  which  only  waited  an  opportunity  for 
their  display.  Led  away  by  the  impetuosity  of  his  tem- 
per, he  often  transcended  the  strict  bounds  of  duty.  Yet 
for  every  violation  his  ready  wit  furnished  a  plausible  ex- 
cuse, while  his  reputed  knowledge  gave  him  an  influence 
with  the  uninformed,  to  whom  he  was  the  more  recom- 
mended by  the  pointed  sarcasms  always  at  his  command, 
which  would  have  been  withheld  from  an  open  avowal  of 
disapprobation.  Had  this  been  all,  it  would  have  been 
enough  to  offend  a  just  sense  of  the  great  importance  of 
confidence  in  the  person  selected  to  lead  the  armies  of 
America  at  such  a  crisis.  But  Lee's  was  not  merely  a 
hostility  of  words.  It  rose  to  acts  which,  jeoparding  the 
fate  of  the  country,  merited  the  severest  penalty  of  mar- 
tial law. 

On  the  tenth  of  November,  f  from  his  head-quarters  at 
White  Plains,  two  days  before  he  crossed  the  Hudson, 
Washington  stated  in  instructions  to  Lee,  "if  the  enemy 
should  remove  the  whole,  or  the  greatest  part  of  their 
force  to  the  west  side  of  the  Hudson  River,  I  have  no 
doubt  of  your  following  with  all  possible  despatch,  leaving 
the  militia  and  invalids  to  cover  the  frontiers  of  Connec- 

*  Lee's  Memoirs.  203.  1776. 


&T.  19.]  HAMILTON. 

ticut  in  case  of  need."  On  the  twentieth  he  informed  him 
through  an  aide-de-camp  that  the  enemy  had  landed  west 
of  the  Hudson  in  great  numbers,  as  was  reported,  and 
that  "  it  would  be  advisable  in  him  to  remove  the  troops 
under  his  command  "  across  the  North  River,  "  and  there 
wait  further  orders."  An  order  was  at  the  same  time 
sent  to  Heath  to  hold  himself  in  readiness  to  march  at  a 
moment's  warning,  and  to  forward  this  order  to  Lord  Stir- 
ling and  General  Stephen,  who  were  to  make  the  same 
preparation.  On  the  same  day,  at  evening,  Reed,  late  a 
member  of  Washington's  staff,  now  adjutant-general,  sent 
Lee  an  express ;  "  we  are  flying  before  the  British,  I 
pray,"  and  the  pencil  broke,  then  added  verbally,  "  you 
push  and  join  us."  On  receiving  similar  advice  from 
Heath  at  Peekskill,  Lee  wrote  him,  "  Col.  Reed  has  writ- 
ten me  a  short  billet  that  I  do  not  well  understand,"  in- 
quiring the  condition  of  his  barracks,  the  number  of  his 
men,  and  the  state  of  his  defences  in  case  he  were  at- 
tacked. No  intimation  was  given  of  his  own  purposes. 

The  next  day,*  Washington  wrote  to  him  himself, 
"  With  respect  to  your  situation,  I  am  very  much  at  a  loss 
what  now  to  determine.  There  is  such  a  change  of  cir- 
cumstances since  the  date  of  your  letter,  as  seems  to  call 
for  a  change  of  measures.  *  *  Upon  the  whole  I  am 
of  opinion,  and  the  gentlemen  about  me  concur  in  it,  that 
the  public  interest  requires  your  coming  over  to  this  side 
of  the  Hudson,  with  the  continental  troops,  leaving  Fel- 
lows and  Wadsworth's  brigades  to  take  care  of  the  stores 
during  their  short  stay,  at  the  expiration  of  which,  I  sup- 
pose, they  will  set  out  for  home.  My  reasons  for  this 
measure,  which  I  think  must  have  weight  with  you,  are, 
that  the  enemy  is  evidently  changing  the  seat  of  war  to 
this  side  of  the  North  River ;  and  that  the  inhabitants  of 

*  Nov.  21. 


144  THE   REPUBLIC.  Ji776. 

this  country  will  expect  the  continental  army  to  give  them 
what  support  they  can ;  and,  failing  in  that,  they  will 
cease  to  depend  upon  or  support  a  force  from  which  no 
protection  is  derived.  It  is  therefore  of  the  utmost  im- 
portance, that  at  least  an  appearance  of  force  should  be 
made,  to  keep  this  province  in  connection  with  the  others." 
He  at  the  same  time  pressed  Livingston,  governor  of  New 
Jersey,  to  call  out  his  militia,  and  dispatched  General 
Mifflin  to  Congress,  to  urge  "  the  necessity  of  early  suc- 
cors." Lee  immediately*  wrote  a  second  letter  to  Heath. 
"  I  have  just  received  a  recommendation,  not  a  positive 
order,  from  the  general,  to  move  the  corps  under  my 
command  to  the  other  side  of  the  river.  This  recom- 
mendation was,  I  imagine,  on  the  presumption  that  I  had 
already  moved  nearer  the  Peekskill.  There  is  no  possibility 
of  crossing  over  Dobb's  Ferry,  or  at  any  place  lower  than 
King's  Ferry,  which  would  be  such  an  immense  round  that 
we  could  never  answer  any  purpose.  I  must,  therefore, 
desire  and  request  that  you  will  order  two  thousand  of 
your  corps  to  cross  the  river,  apprise  the  general,  and 
wait  his  further  orders.  As  soon  as  we  have  finished  a 
necessary  job,  I  will  replace  this  number  from  hence, 
which  job,  will,  I  believe,  be  finished  to-morrow."  At  the 
same  moment,  he  replied  in  the  same  terms  to  Reed, 
stating  his  order  to  Heath,  "  a  mode,"  he  said,  "  which  I 
flatter  myself  will  answer  better  what  I  conceive  to  be 
the  spirit  of  the  orders  than  should  I  move  the  corps  from 
hence.  Withdrawing  our  troops  from  hence  would  be 
attended  with  very  serious  consequences,  which,  at 
present,  would  be  tedious  to  enumerate." 

On  the  same  day  Reed  wrote  to  Lee  from  Hackensack, 
"  Dear  General,  the  letter  you  will  receive  with  this  con- 
tains my  sentiments  with  respect  to  your  present  situation. 

*  Nov.  21. 


/Er.  19.]  HAMILTON.  145 

But  besides  this,  I  have  some  additional  reasons  for  most 
earnestly  wishing  to  have  you  where  the  principal  scene 
of  action  is  laid.  I  do  not  mean  to  flatter  nor  praise  you 
at  the  expense  of  any  other,  but  I  confess,  I  do  think  that 
it  is  entirely  owing  to  you,  that  this  army,  and  the  liberties 
of  America,  so  far  as  they  are  dependent  on  it,  are  not 
totally  cut  off.  You  have  decision,  a  quality  often  wanting 
in  minds  otherwise  valuable :  and  I  ascribe  to  this  our 
escape  from  York  Island,  from  King's  Bridge,  and  the 
Plains  ;  and  I  have  no  doubt,  had  you  been  here,  the  garri- 
son of  Mount  Washington  would  now  have  composed  a  part 
of  this  army  ;  and  from  all  these  circumstances,  I  confess, 
I  ardently  wish  to  see  you  removed  from  a  place  where  I 
think  there  will  be  little  call  for  your  judgment  and  ex- 
perience, to  the  place  where  they  are  likely  to  be  so 
necessary.  Nor  am  I  singular  in  my  opinion ;  every  gen- 
tleman of  the  family,  the  officers  and  soldiers  generally, 
have  a  confidence  in  you  :  the  enemy  constantly  inquire 
where  you  are,  and  seem  to  be  less  confident  when  you 
are  present. 

"  Colonel  Cadwallader,  through  a  special  indulgence 
on  account  of  some  civilities  shown  by  his  family  to 
General  Prescott,  has  been  liberated  from  New  York 
without  any  parole.  He  informs  that  the  enemy  have  a 
southern  expedition  in  view  ;  that  they  hold  us  very  cheap 
in  consequence  of  the  late  affair  at  Mount  Washington, 
where  both  the  plan  of  defence  and  execution  were  con- 
temptible. If  a  real  defence  of  the  lines  was  intended, 
the  number  was  too  few ;  if  the  fort  only,  the  garrison 
was  too  numerous  by  half.  General  Washington's  own 
judgment,  seconded  by  representations  from  us,  would,  I 
believe,  have  saved  the  men  and  their  arms ;  but,  unluck- 
ily, General  Greene's  judgment  was  contrary.  This  kept 
the  general's  mind  in  a  state  of  supense  till  the  stroke  was 
VOL.  I.— 10 


l±6  THE   REPUBLIC.  [17T6. 

struck.  Oh,  general !  an  indecisive  mind  is  one  of  the 
greatest  misfortunes  that  can  befall  an  army :  how  often 
have  I  lamented  it  this  campaign. 

"All  circumstances  considered,  we  are  in  a  very  awful, 
alarming  state,  one  that  requires  the  utmost  wisdom  and 
firmness  of  mind.  As  soon  as  the  season  will  admit,  I 
think  yourself  and  some  others  should  go  to  Congress,  and 
form  the  plan  of  the  new  army,  point  out  their  defects  to 
them,  and,  if  possible,  prevail  on  them  to  bend  their  whole 
attention  to  this  great  object,  even  to  the  exclusion  of 
every  other.  If  they  will  not  or  cannot  do  this,  I  fear  all 
our  exertions  will  be  vain  in  this  part  of  the  world. 
Foreign  assistance  is  soliciting,  but  we  cannot  expect  they 
will  fight  the  whole  battle. 

"  I  intended  to  have  said  more,  but  the  express  is  wait- 
ing, and  I  must  conclude  with  my  clear  and  explicit  opin- 
ion, that  your  presence  is  of  the  last  importance.  I 
am,  with  much  affection  and  regard."  *  Six  days  after, 
the  army  being  in  rapid  retreat,  Reed  resigned  his  office 
of  adjutant-general.  Sensible  of  the  injurious  effect  upon 
the  army  of  such  an  act  by  the  head  of  his  staff,  and 
probably  moved  by  a  regard  to  Reed's  reputation,  Wash- 
ington induced  him  to  withdraw  his  resignation. 

Lee  was  resolved  in  his  purpose  to  withhold  the  re- 
quired reinforcements,  though  he  had  under  his  command 
more  than  five  thousand  five  hundred  effective  men.f  As 
to  their  condition  he  had  recently  written  to  Franklin :  J 
"  The  spirit  of  our  present  troops  is,  upon  the  whole,  good^ 
and  if  America  is  lost,  it  is  not.  in  my  opinion,  owing  to 
want  of  courage  in  your  soldiers,  but,  pardon  me,  to  want 
of  prudence  in  your  high  mightinesses." 

*  The  Life  and  Memoirs  of  the  late  Major  General  Lee,  p.  227,  duodecimo, 
f  Returns  Nov.  24,  1776,  present  fit  for  duty,  5,589,  exclusive  of  militia,  363. 
}  White  Plains,  Nov.  6,  1776. 

or— .1  ,j<>v 


^ET.  10.]  HAMILTON.  147 

That  his  intention  was  to  hold  a  separate  command ; 
to  disseminate  distrust  of  Washington ;  to  permit  his 
army  to  be  sacrificed ;  to  win  more  upon  the  confidence 
of  the  New  England  States;  and  in  certain  contingen- 
cies to  hold  his  power  from  a  convention  of  those  States 
throwing  off  the  authority  of  Congress,  looking  to  the 
then  not  improbable  event  of  a  severance  of  the  imper- 
fect union,  may  be  inferred  from  his  conduct  and  his  cor- 
respondence. At  the  same  date  with  the  letter  from 
Reed,  he  writes  to  Bowdoin,  president  of  Massachusetts ; 
to  Trumbull,  governor  of  Connecticut ;  and  through  his 
aid,  to  Weare,  president  of  New  Hampshire. 

To  Bowdoin  he  observed,  "  Before  the  unfortunate 
affair  of  Fort  Washington,  it  was  my  opinion,  that  the  two 
armies,  that  on  the  east  and  that  on  the  west  side  of 
North  River,  must  rest  each  on  its  own  bottom  ;  that  the 
idea  of  detaching  and  reinforcing  from  one  side  to  the 
other,  on  every  motion  of  the  enemy,  was  chimerical :  but 
to  harbor  such  a  thought  in  our  present  circumstances,  is 
absolute  insanity.  In  this  invasion,  should  the  enemy  alter 
the  present  direction  of  their  operations,  and  attempt  to 
open  the  passage  of  the  Highlands,  or  enter  New  Eng- 
land, I  should  never  entertain  the  thought  of  being  suc- 
cored by  the  western  army.  I  know  it  is  impossible. 
We  must,  therefore,  depend  upon  ourselves.  To  Con- 
necticut and  Massachusetts  I  shall  look  for  assistance. 
The  time  of  the  men  who  compose  the  little  corps  under 
my  command  is  near  expiring.  I  must  repeat,  therefore, 
that  I  hope  not  only  the  legislative  body,  but  the  whole 
gentlemen  of  the  New  England  provinces,  will  exert 
themselves  to  forward  the  completion  of  the  continental 
regiments.  *  *  I  hope  the  cursed  job  of  Fort  Wash- 
ington will  occasion  no  dejection ;  the  place  itself  was  of 
no  value.  For  my  own  part,  I  am  persuaded,  that  if  we 


14-8  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1776. 

only  act  with  common  sense,  spirit,  and  decision,  the  day 
must  be  our  own."  His  letters  to  Trumbull  are  not  ob- 
tained, but  the  answer  *  shows  the  impression  he  had 
made.  "Your  favors  of  the  twenty-first  and  twenty- 
second  were  duly  received,  and  I  now  answer,  that  for 
the  reasons  and  events  you  mention,  I  do  fully  concur  in 
the  sentiment,  that  we  must,  very  much,  if  not  altogether, 
depend  upon  ourselves  on  this  side  the  river  for  prevent- 
ing the  enemy  from  penetrating  this  way.  In  this  view 
of  the  matter,  the  assembly  have  ordered  four  battalions 
for  march,  as  soon  as  possible,  properly  equipped,  to  con- 
tinue till  the  fifteenth  of  March  next ;  in  the  mean  time 
our  quota  of  regulars  will  be  raising  and  forwarding." 
That  eloquent,  steadfast  patriot  was  not  content  with  ex- 
erting his  well-deserved  influence  over  Connecticut ;  he 
wrote  to  Massachusetts,  "  What  means  that  languor,  iner 
tion  and  dispiritedness,  that  seems  to  overwhelm  the  New 
England  States  ?  Our  army  to  the  westward  barefoot, 
fleeing  before  the  enemy.  *  *  A  fleet  of  the  enemy  of 
upwards  of  one  hundred  sail  pushing  up  Narraganset  Bay, 
and  no  doubt  a  large  land  force  on  board,  to  get  footing 
in  that  quarter.  We  have  the  strongest  intimations  of 
General  Lee  and  others,  besides  the  same  demonstrations 
in  our  own  breasts,  that  unless  the  New  England  colonies 
renew  their  exertions  by  redoubled  vigor,  all  is  lost."  He 
then  urges,  as  soon  as  the  army  are  retired  to  winter 
quarters,  a  convention  of  the  New  England  States,  "  to 
consult  on  the  great  affairs  of  our  safety,  and  of  counter- 
acting the  enemy  in  their  future  operations.  We  have  a 
hint  of  this  in  a  late  letter  from  General  Lee."  On  the 
same  day  Lee  advised  Weare  of  the  probability  o'f  the 
«nemy  paying  a  visit  "  very  soon"  to  New  Hampshire, 
(founded  on  the  tale  of  a  deserter ;  and  that  they  had 

*  Nov.  30. 


JET.  19.]  HAMILTON.  149 

landed  five  thousand  men  in  the  Jerseys.  The  next  day* 
he  again  writes  to  Bowdoin,  taking  up  the  theme  of  Reed. 
"  Indecision  bids  fair  for  tumbling  down  the  goodly  fabric 
of  American  freedom,  and  with  it,  the  rights  of  mankind. 
'Twas  indecision  of  Congress  prevented  our  having  a 
noble  army  and  on  an  excellent  footing.  'Twas  indecision 
in  our  military  councils  which  cost  us  the  garrison  of  Fort 
Washington,  the  consequence  of  which  must  be  fatal, 
unless  remedied  in  time  by  a  contrary  spirit.  Enclosed  I 
send  you  an  extract  of  a  letter  from  the  general,  on  which 
you  will  make  your  comments,  and  I  have  no  doubt  you 
will  concur  with  me  on  the  necessity  of  raising  immedi- 
ately an  army  to  save  us  from  perdition."  He  calls  for 
reinforcements  and  clothing,  disclosing  his  own  purpose, 
"  as  /  am  determined,  by  the  help  of  God,  to  arrest  'em, 
even  in  the  dead  of  winter."  Two  days  after,  f  he  thus 
acknowledges  the  extraordinary  letter  of  Reed :  "  I  re- 
ceived your  most  obliging,  flattering  letter,  lament  with 
you  that  fatal  indecision  of  mind  which  in  war  is  a  much 
greater  disqualification  than  stupidity,  or  mere  want  of 
personal  courage  ;  accident  may  put  a  decisive  blunder  in 
the  right,  but  eternal  defeat  and  miscarriage  must  attend 
the  man  of  the  best  parts,  if  cursed  with  indecision.  The 
general  recommends,  in  so  pressing  a  manner  as  almost  to 
amount  to  an  order,  to  bring  over  the  continental  troops 
under  my  command,  which  recommendation  or  order 
throws  me  into  the  greatest  dilemma  from  several  con- 
siderations. Part  of  the  troops  are  so  ill  furnished  that 
they  must  inevitably  perish  in  this  wretched  weather. 
Part  of  them  are  to  be  dismissed  on  Saturday,  and  this 
part  is  the  best  accoutred  for  service.  What  shelter  we 
are  to  find  on  the  other  side  of  the  river  is  a  serious  con- 
sideration ;  but  these  considerations  should  not  sway  me." 

*  Nov.  22.  f  Nov.  24. 


150  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1776. 

He  assigns  as  his  chief  reason,  the  prospect  of  capturing 
a  party  of  the  enemy,  which  "being  over,  I  shall  then 
fly  to  you ;  for,  to  confess  a  truth,  I  really  think  our 
chief  will  do  better  with  me  than  without  me."  He  at 
the  same  time  writes  to  Washington,  "I  have  received 
your  orders,  and  shall  endeavor  to  put  them  in  execution  ; 
but  question  much  whether  I  shall  be  able  to  carry  with 
me  any  considerable  number,  not  so  much  from  a  want  of 
zeal  in  the  men,  as  from  their  wretched  condition  with 
respect  to  shoes,  stockings  and  blankets,  which  the  present 
bad  weather  renders  more  intolerable."  He  then  informs 
him,  that  he  had  ordered  Heath  to  cross  the  river  with 
two  thousand  men,  and  wait  his  orders  ;  "  but  that  great 
man  (as  1  might  have  expected)  intrenched  himself  within 
the  letter  of  his  instructions ;  that  he  should  march  that 
day  with  Glover's  brigade,  but  for  his  projected  expedi- 
tion against  a  party  of  the  enemy,  which,  if  successful, 
would  have  a  great  effect  and  amply  compensate  for 
two  days'  delay."  Lee  then  had  advanced  to  North 
Castle. 

A  third  letter  *  from  Washington  was  now  received  by 
him.  "You  seem,"  he  said,  "to  have  mistaken  my  views 
entirely,  in  ordering  troops  from  General  Heath  to  cross 
Hudson's  river  to  this  side.  The  importance  of  the  posts 
and  passes  through  the  Highlands  is  so  infinitely  great, 
that  I  never  thought  there  should  be  the  least  possible 
risk  of  losing  them.  Colonel  Reed's  second  letter  will 
have  sufficiently  explained  my  intention  upon  this  subject, 
and  pointed  out  to  you  that  it  was  your  division  I  w  ant 
to  have  over."  He  urged  him  to  avoid  being  intercepted, 
by  choosing  some  back  way  for  his  approach,  and  to 
advise  him  by  frequent  expresses.  The  same  day  he 
wrote  him  a  fourth  letter,  indicating,  but  not  prescribing, 

*  Nov.  24. 


Mi.  19.]  HAMILTON.  151 

his  route,  except  "  by  all  means  to  keep  between  the  ene- 
my and  the  mountains ; "  and  to  advise  him  by  frequent 
expresses.  Nor  was  Washington's  reluctance  to  with- 
draw troops  from  the  Highlands  without  sufficient,  ex- 
clusive of  military,  reasons  ;  for  George  Clinton,  always 
looking  intently  on  New  York,  wrote  to  its  Committee  of 
Safety,  "  Should  the  orders  be  to  move,  all's  over  with  the 
river  this  season,  and,  I  fear,  for  ever."  "  No  particular 
accounts  yet  from  head-quarters,  but  I  am  apt  to  believe, 
retreating  is  yet  fashionable."  This  committee  communi- 
cated these  objections  to  Washington  and  to  Heath.  Lee 
replied  the  next  day,*  stating  that  the  motive  of  his  order 
to  Heath  was  to  gain  time,  giving  excuses  for  his  own 
delay,  that  a  part  of  his  troops  had  advanced,  and  that  he 
would  follow  the  next  day,  obeying  the  orders  as  to  his 
march  "  as  exactly  as  possible."  While  Lee  was  thus 
loitering  on  his  way,  Schuyler,  in  despite  of  the  decision  of 
a  council  of  war  to  proceed  northward,  instructed  Gates 
to  detain  his  troops  at  Albany.  The  ensuing  day,f  at  the 
moment  of  learning  the  loss  of  Fort  Washington,  he 
ordered  all  the  troops  that  "  had  passed  or  were  passing," 
to  join  the  commander-in-chief,  "  as  he  may  stand  in  need 
of  them,  with  all  possible  despatch  ; "  thus  anticipating  the 
orders  of  Washington,  who,  in  the  mean  time,  had  taken 
measures  to  suppress  the  Tories  in  the  lower  part  of  Jer- 
sey, and  was  urging  Congress  to  forward  volunteers  from 
Pennsylvania. 

Lee  was  still  looking  eastward.  He  again,  at  this 
time,J  writes  to  Bowdoin,  indicating  his  paramount  regard 
for  New  England.  "  Would  it  not  be  prudent  to  order 
all  the  continental  stores  to  a  more  central  place  than 
Boston,  should  the  enemy  take  it  in  their  head  to  send  a 
fleet  before  Boston  ?  " 

*  Nov.  25.  -I-  Nov.  25.  |  Nov.  25. 


152  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1770. 

Washington  could  brook  no  further  delay.  Two  days 
after,  he  wrote  him  a  fifth  letter.  "  My  former  letters 
were  so  full  and  explicit  as  to  the  necessity  of  your 
marching  as  early  as  possible,  that  it  is  unnecessary  to 
add  more  on  that  head.  I  confess,  I  expected  you  would 
have  been  sooner  in  motion.  The  force  here  (Newark), 
when  joined  by  yours,  will  not  be  adequate  to  any  great 
opposition.  At  present  it  is  weak,  and  it  has  been  owing 
more  to  the  badness  of  the  weather,  that  the  enemy's  pro- 
gress has  been  checked,  than  to  any  resistance  we  could 
make.  They  are  now  pushing  this  way ;  part  of  them 
have  passed  the  Passaic."  He  thought  Philadelphia  might 
be  their  object,  and  wished  success  to  his  enterprise. 

Nothing  could  be  more  dreary  than  Washington's  sit- 
uation. Including  the  raw  militia  suddenly  gathered,  his 
numbers,  as  stated,  were  but  four  thousand.  So  destitute 
their  condition,  a  British  officer  writes,  "  I  believe  no  na- 
tion ever  saw  such  a  set  of  tatterdemalions.  There  arc 
but  few  coats  among  them  but  what  are  out  at  elbows, 
and  in  a  whole  regiment  there  is  scarce  a  pair  of  breech- 
es. Judge,  then,  how  they  must  be  pinched  by  a  winter's 
campaign." 

The  term  of  service  of  some  of  the  best  troops  had 
expired.  Efforts  to  intercept  the  numerous  deserters 
were  fruitless.  Again  he  must  retreat,  and  there  seemed 
no  alternative  but  to  cross  the  Delaware  with  the  enemy 
in  hot  pursuit.  Even  this  might  not  be  practicable. 

Lee  answered  Washington  from  Peekskill,*  "  You 
complain  of  my  not  being  in  motion  sooner.  I  do  assure 
you  that  I  have  done  all  in  my  power,  and  shall  explain 
my  difficulties  when  we  both  have  leisure.  *  *  *  I 
am  in  hopes  I  shall  be  able  to  render  you  more  service 
than  if  I  had  moved  sooner.  I  think,  I  shall  enter  the 

*  Nov.  so. 


^Ex.  19.]  HAMILTON.  153 

province  of  Jersey  with  four  thousand  firm  and  willing 
troops,  who  will  make  a  very  important  diversion.  Had 
I  stirred  sooner,  I  should  have  only  led  an  inferior  num- 
ber of  unwilling.  The  day  after  to-morrow  we  shall  pass 
the  river,  when  I  should  be  glad  to  receive  your  instruc- 
tions ;  but  I  could  wish  you  would  bind  me  as  little  as 
possible  ;  not  from  any  opinion,  I  do  assure  you,  of  my 
own  parts,  but  from  a  persuasion  that  detached  generals 
cannot  have  too  great  latitude,  unless  they  are  very  in- 
competent indeed."  On  the  same  day,  seeing  no  escape 
from  taking  part  in  the  impending  hazards,  Lee  wrote  to 
Bowdoin,*  "  The  affairs  of  America  are  in  a  more  alarm- 
ing situation  every  day.  The  enemy  have  passed  the 
Passaic  ;  unless,  therefore,  the  New  England  provinces 
exert  themselves,  not  only  vigorously  but  essentially,  we 
are  lost.  General  Washington  has  ordered  me  with  the 
continental  troops  over  the  river.  This  measure  may  be 
necessary  for  Philadelphia,  but  the  hardships  that  the  men 
must  encounter  this  season  of  the  year,  will,  I  apprehend, 
prevent  very  considerably  the  recruiting  the  new  army  ; 
and  unless  an  army  is  formed,  and  immediately,  you 
must  submit  to  the  yoke  prepared."  He  proposed  drafts 
of  men.  The  following  day  f  Washington  wrote  him  a 
sixth  letter,  dated  Brunswick.  "  The  enemy  are  advanc- 
ing, and  have  got  as  far  as  Woodbridge  and  Amboy,  and 
from  information  not  to  be  doubted,  they  mean  to  push 
for  Philadelphia.  The  force  I  have  with  me  is  infinitely 
inferior  in  numbers,  and  such  as  cannot  give  or  promise 
the  least  sucessful  opposition.  It  is  greatly  reduced  by 
the  departure  of  the  Maryland  flying  camp,  and  by  sun- 
dry other  causes.  I  must  entreat  you  to  hasten  your 
march  as  much  as  possible,  or  your  arrival  may  be  too 
late  to  answer  any  valuable  purpose.  I  cannot  particu- 

*  Nov.  30.  t  Dec-  !• 


154  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

larize  your  route,  or  the  place  at  which  you  will  join  me. 
In  these  respects  you  must  be  governed  by  circumstances, 
and  the  intelligence  you  receive."  *  The  day  after,  Lee 
crossed  the  Hudson  and  moved  on  slowly.  The  third  of 
December,  Washington,  having  reached  Treaton,  wrote 
him  a  seventh  letter.  "  You  will  readily  agree,  that  I  have 
sufficient  cause  for  my  anxiety  and  for  wishing  your  arrival 
as  early  as  possible.  *  *  The  sooner  you  can  join  mt. 
with  your  division,  the  sooner  the  service  will  be  benefited. 
As  to  bringing  any  of  the  troops  under  General  Heath,  I 
cannot  consent  to  it.  The  posts  they  are  at,  and  the 
passes  through  the  Highlands,  being  of  the  utmost  impor- 
tance, they  must  be  guarded  by  good  men."  He  then 
writes  Congress,  "  I  have  not  heard  a  word  from  General 
Lee  since  the  twenty-sixth  of  last  month ;  which  sur- 
prises me  not  a  little,  as  I  have  despatched  daily  expresses 
to  him,  desiring  to  know  when  I  may  look  for  him.  *  * 
I  have  this  minute  despatched  Colonel  Stewart  (General 
Gates'  aid-de-camp),  to  meet  General  Lee  and  bring  me 
an  account."  The  day  previous,  Congress  had  instructed 
a  committee  to  send  an  express  to  Lee  to  learn  the  situa- 
tion of  his  army.  On  the  fourth  of  December,  Lee 
writes  Washington  from  Haverstraw,  on  the  western  bank 
of  the  Hudson,  "I  have  received  your  pressing  letter, 
since  which,  intelligence  was  sent  to  me,  that  you  had 
quitted  Brunswick,  so  that  it  is  impossible  to  know  where 
I  can  join  you.  But,  although  /  should  not  be  able  to  join 
you  at  all,  the  service  which  I  can  render  you,  will,  I  hope, 
be  full  as  efficacious.  The  northern  army  has  already 
advanced  nearer  to  Morristown  than  I  am.  I  shall  put 

*  Wayne  writes  at  this  time  from  Ticonderoga  to  Gates :  "  My  heart 
bleeds  for  poor  Washington.  Had  he  but  Southern  troops,  he  would  not  be 
necessitated  so  often  to  fly  before  an  enemy,  who,  I  fear,  has  lately  had  but 
too  much  reason  to  hold  us  cheap." — Dec.  1. 


JET.  19.]  HAMILTON.  155 

myself  at  their  head  to-morrow.  We  shall,  upon  the 
whole,  compose  an  army  of  five  thousand  good  troops  in 
spirits.  I  should  imagine,  dear  General,  that  it  may  be  of 
service  to  communicate  this  to  the  troops  immediately 
under  your  command.  It  may  encourage  them  and  startle 
the  enemy.  In  fact,  their  confidence  must  be  risen  to  a 
prodigious  height,  if  they  pursue  you,  with  so  formidable 
a  body  hanging  on  their  flank  and  rear.  *  .  *  *  It  is 
paltry  to  think  of  our  personal  affairs  when  the  whole  is 
at  stake  ;  but  I  entreat  you  to  order  some  of  your  suite  to 
take  out  of  the  way  of  danger  my  favorite  mare,  which 
is  at  that  Wilson's  three  miles  beyond  Princeton." 

Two  days  after,  Greene  wrote  to  Washington  from 
Princeton ;  "  Major  Clarke  reports  General  Lee  is  at  the 
heels  of  the  enemy.  I  should  think  he  had  better  keep 
upon  the  flanks  than  the  rear  of  the  enemy,  unless  it  were 
possible  to  concert  an  attack  at  the  same  instant  of  time 
in  front  and  rear.  I  think  General  Lee  must  be  confined 
within  the  lines  of  some  general  plan,  or  else  his  opera- 
tions will  be  independent  of  yours."  On  the  same  day,* 
Lee  writes  to  Cooke,  governor  of  Rhode  Island,  from 
Pompton.  After  speaking  of  the  appointments  of  offi- 
cers, he  observes,  "  Theory  joined  to  practice,  or  a  heaven- 
born  genius,  can  alone  constitute  a  general.  As  to  the 
latter,  God  Almighty  indulges  the  modern  world  very 
rarely  with  the  spectacle  ;  and  I  do  not  know,  from  what 
I  have  seen,  that  he  has  been  more  profuse  of  this  ethereal 
spirit  to  the  Americans  than  to  other  nations."  He  inti- 
mates that  Rhode  Island  will  probably  be  attacked. 

To  excuse  himself  with  Congress,  he  next  wrote  f  to 
Richard  Henry  Lee  and  Benjamin  Rush,  his  friends  in 
that  body,  having  at  last  reached  Morristown.  "  My 
corps  that  passed  the  North  river  will  amount  (for  we  are 

*  Dec.  7.  Dec-  8- 


156  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1776. 

considerably  diminished)  to  seven  and  twenty  hundred ; 
in  fact  our  army  may  be  estimated  at  four  thousand.  If 
I  was  not  taught  to  think  that  the  army  with  General 
Washington  had  been  considerably  reinforced,  I  should 
immediately  join  him;  but  as  I  am  assured  he  is  very 
strong,  I  should  imagine  we  can  make  a  better  impression 
by  beating  up  and  harassing  their  detached  parties  in  the 
rear,  for  which  purpose  a  good  post  at  Chatham  seems 
the  best  calculated.  It  is  at  a  happy  distance  from  New- 
ark, Elizabethtown,  Woodbridge  and  Boundbrook.  We 
shall,  I  expect,  annoy,  distract,  and  consequently  weaken 
them  in  a  desultory  war ;  but  we  are  so  ill-shod  and  desti- 
tute of  light  horse,  that  the  troops  are  in  a  bad  condition 
for  that  species  of  service.  I  must  do  'em  justice  to  say 
that  they  have  noble  spirits ;  and  will,  I  have  no  doubt, 
render  great  service  to  their  country."  On  the  same  day 
he  wrote  to  Washington  a  letter  nearly  in  the  same 
words.  Washington,  writing  to  Congress  of  this  date, 
remarks,  "  I  have  no  certain  intelligence  of  General  Lee, 
although  I  have  sent  frequent  expresses  to  him,  and  lately 
Colonel  Hampton,  to  bring  me  some  accurate  accounts  of 
his  situation.  I  last  night  despatched  another  gentleman 
to  him,  Major  Hoops,  desiring  he  would  hasten  his  march 
to  the  Delaware,  in  which  I  would  provide  boats  near  a 
place  called  Alexandria,  for  the  transportation  of  his 
troops.  I  cannot  account  for  the  slowness  of  his  march." 
His  great  solicitude  was  the  defence  of  Philadelphia.  Lee 
wrote  to  Washington  again  on  the  same  day  *  from  Chat- 
ham. "  Major  Hoops  has  just  delivered  to  me  your  ex- 
cellency's letter.  I  am  extremely  shocked  to  hear  that 
your  force  is  so  inadequate  to  the  necessity  of  your  situ- 
ation, as  I  had  been  taught  to  think  you  had  been  consid- 
erably reinforced.  Your  last  letters  proposing  a  plan  of 

*  Doc.  8. 


^T.  19.J  HAMILTON.  157 

surprise*  and  forced  marches,  convinced  me  thai  there 
was  no  danger  of  your  being  obliged  to  pass  the  Dela- 
ware, in  consequence  of  which  proposals,  I  have  put  my- 
self in  a  position  the  most  convenient  to  co-operate  with 
you,  by  attacking  their  rear.  I  cannot  persuade  myself 
that  Philadelphia  is  their  object  at  present,  as  it  is  almost 
certain  their  whole  troops  lately  embarked  have  directed 
their  course  to  the  eastern  provinces.  *  *  *  It  will 
be  difficult,  I  am  afraid,  to  join  you,  but  cannot  I  do  you 
more  service  by  attacking  their  rear  ?  I  shall  look  about 
me  to-morrow,  and  inform  you  further."  The  following 
day  *  Lee  addressed  General  Heath,  who  had  written  to 
Washington  in  terms  prompted  unquestionably  by  what 
he  had  seen  of  the  policy  of  Lee  ; — "  any  orders  from 
your  excellency  to  move  the  troops  or  any  part  of  them, 
shall  be  instantly  obeyed."  To  this  effect  "  I  sent  an  ex- 
press to  you  last  night  from  General  Washington,  order- 
ing your  division  to  cross  the  river,  which,  I  confess,  for 
my  own  part,  I  am  heartily  sorry  for,  as  I  think  we  shall 
be  strong  enough  without  you,  and  New  England,  with 
your  district,  will  be  too  bare  of  troops.  I  am  in  hopes 
here  to  reconquer  (if  I  may  so  express  myself)  the  Jerseys. 
It  was  really  in  the  hands  of  the  enemy  before  my  arrival." 
The  day  after,  f  Washington  wrote  to  Lee  from  Tren- 
ton Falls  an  eighth  letter.  "  I  last  night  received  your 
favor  by  Colonel  Hampton,  and  were  it  not  for  the  weak 
and  feeble  state  of  the  force  I  have,  I  should  highly  ap- 
prove of  your  hanging  on  the  rear  of  the  enemy,  and  es- 
tablishing the  post  you  mention  ;  but  when  my  situation 
is  directly  the  opposite  of  what  you  suppose  it  to  be,  and 
when  General  Howe  is  pressing  forward  with  the  whole 
of  his  army  (except  the  troops  that  were  lately  embarked, 
and  a  few  besides  left  at  New  York),  to  possess  himself 

*  Dec.  9.  t  Dec.  10. 


158  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1776. 

of  Philadelphia,  I  cannot  but  request  and  entreat  you,  and 
this,  too,  by  the  advice  of  all  the  general  officers  with  me, 
to  march  and  join  me  with  your  whole  force  with  all  pos- 
sible expedition.  The  utmost  exertions  that  can  be  made, 
will  not  be  more  than  sufficient  to  save  Philadelphia. 
Without  the  aid  of  your  force  I  think  there  is  but  little,  if 
any,  prospect  of  doing  it.  *  *  *  Do  come  on  ;  your  ar- 
rival may  be  fortunate,  and  if  it  can  be  effected  without 
delay,  it  may  be  the  means  of  preserving  a  city,  whose 
loss  must  prove  of  the  most  fatal  consequence  to  the  cause 
of  America.  Pray  exert  your  influence,  and  bring  with 
you  all  the  Jersey  militia  you  possibly  can.  Let  them  not 
suppose  their  State  is  lost  because  the  enemy  are  pushing 
through  it."  Congress  at  this  moment  issued  an  address 
to  revive  the  desponding  spirits  of  the  people,  in  which 
they  said,  "  General  Lee  is  advancing  with  a  strong  rein- 
forcement, and  his  troops  in  high  spirits."  The  day  after  * 
he  wrote  him  a  ninth  letter.  "  Philadelphia,  beyond  all 
question,  is  the  object  of  the  enemy's  movements  ;  nothing 
less  than  our  utmost  exertions  will  be  sufficient  to  prevent 
General  Howe  from  possessing  it.  The  force  I  have  is 
weak  and  entirely  incompetent  to  that  end.  I  must, 
therefore,  entreat  you  to  push  on  with  every  possible  suc- 
cor you  can  bring.  Your  aid  may  give  a  favorable  com- 
plexion to  our  affairs.  You  know  the  importance  of 
Philadelphia,  and  the  fatal  consequences  that  must  attend 
the  toss  of  it."  The  same  day  a  note  was  addressed  to 
Washington  from  M orristown  in  the  handwriting  of  Lee. 
"We  have  three  thousand  men  here  at  present,  but  they 
are  so  ill-shod,  that  we  have  been  obliged  to  halt  these  two 
days  for  want  of  shoes.  Seven  regiments  of  Gates'  corps 
are  on  their  march,  but  where  they  actually  are,  is  not 
oer'ain.  General  Lee  has  sent  two  officers  this  day,  one 

*  Dec.  11 


.Ex.  19.]  HAMILTON. 

to  inform  him  where  the  Delaware  can  be  crossed  above 
Trenton,  the  other  to  examine  the  road  towards  Burling- 
ton. As  General  Lee  thinks  he  can,  without  great  risk, 
cross  the  great  Brunswick  post  road,  and  by  a  forced 
night's  march  make  his  way  to  the  ferry  below  Burling- 
ton, where  boats  should  be  sent  up  from  Philadelphia  to 
receive  him  ;  but  this  scheme  he  only  proposes  if  the  head 
of  the  enemy's  column  actually  pass  the  river.  The  mili- 
tia in  this  part  of  the  province  seem  sanguine.  If  they 
could  be  sure  of  an  army  remaining  amongst  them,  I  be- 
lieve they  would  raise  a  very  considerable  number." 

Congress  now  *  adjourned  in  haste  to  Baltimore. 
Washington  answered  with  suppressed  indignation  in  a 
tenth  letter. f  "  I  am  much  surprised  that  you  should  be 
in  any  doubt  respecting  the  route  you  should  take,  after 
the  information  you  have  received  upon  that  head  as  well 
by  letter  as  from  Major  Hoops,  who  was  despatched  for 
that  purpose.  A  large  number  of  boats  was  procured 
and  is  still  retained  at  Tinicum,  under  a  strong  guard,  to 
facilitate  your  passage  across  the  Delaware.  I  have  so 
frequently  mentioned  our  situation  and  the  necessity  of 
your  aid,  that  it  is  painful  for  me  to  add  a  word  upon  the 
subject.  Let  me  once  more  request  and  entreat  you  to 
march  immediately  for  Pittstown,  which  lies  on  the  route 
that  has  been  pointed  out,  and  is  about  eleven  miles  from 
Tinicum  ferry.  That  is  more  on  the  flank  of  the  enemy 
than  where  you  now  are.  *  *  *  The  Congress  have 
directed  Philadelphia  to  be  defended  to  the  last  extremity. 
The  fatal  consequences  that  must  attend  its  loss  are  but 
too  obvious  to  every  one.  Your  arrival  may  be  the 
means  of  saving  it."  On  the  same  day  J  he  writes  Gov- 
ernor Trumbull,  moved  by  an  expedition  of  the  enemy  to 
Newport :  "  General  Lee's  division  is  so  necessary  to  sup- 

*  Dec.  12.  t  Dec.  14.  J  Dec.  14. 


j(3Q  THE   REPUBLIC.  11770. 

port  this  part  of  the  army,  that  without  its  assistance  we 
must  inevitably  be  overpowered  and  Philadelphia  lost." 
His  desire  of  aid  was  the  more  earnest,  as  from  the  dis- 
persed state  of  the  enemy,  the  advance  extended  along 
the  Delaware,  the  reserve  at  Princeton  and  Brunswick,  an 
opportunity  was  offered  of  turning  upon  them.  "  A  lucky 
blow  in  this  quarter,"  he  says  in  the  same  letter,  "  would  be 
fatal  to  them,  and  would  most  certainly  raise  the  spirits  of 
the  people,  which  are  quite  sunk  by  our  late  misfortunes." 
On  the  day  of  his  late  note  to  Washington,  Lee  moved 
from  Morristown  and  reached  a  point  eight  miles  from  it, 
where  he  left  his  troops  under  command  of  Sullivan,  tak- 
ing up  his  own  quarters  at  a  tavern  in  Baskenridge,  three 
miles  distant  from  his  force,  whence  he  addressed  this  let- 
ter to  General  Gates  pregnant  with  the  theme  suggested 
by  Reed  :  "  The  injurious  manoeuvre  of  Fort  Washington 
has  completely  unhinged  the  goodly  fabric  we  had  been 
building.  There  never  was  so  damned  a  stroke ;  entre 
nous,  a  certain  great  man  is  most  damnably  deficient. 
He  has  thrown  me  into  a  situation  where  I  have  my  choice 
of  difficulties.  If  I  stay  in  this  province,  I  risk  myself 
and  army,  and  if  I  do  not  stay,  the  province  is  lost  for 
ever.  I  have  neither  guards,  cavalry,  medicines,  money 
shoes  or  stockings.  I  must  act  with  the  greatest  circum- 
spection. Forces  are  in  my  front,  rear,  and  on  my  flanks. 
The  mass  of  the  people  is  strangely  contaminated.  In 
short,  unless  something  which  I  do  not  expect  turns  up, 
we  are  lost.  Our  councils  have  been  weak  to  the  last  de- 
gree. As  to  what  relates  to  yourself,  if  you  think  you 
can  be  in  time  to  aid  the  general,  I  would  have  you  by 
all  means  go.*  You  will  at  least  save  your  army.  It  is 

*  So  intent  was  he  on  his  own  designs,  that  of  the  seven  regiments  under 
Gates,  ordered  by  Schuyler  to  the  relief  of  Washington,  he  had  ordered  Are* 
to  join  his  force  at  Morristown. 


^Ei.  19.]  HAMILTON.  161 

said  that  the  whigs  are  determined  to  set  fire  to  Phila- 
delphia. 

"  If  they  strike  this  decisive  stroke,  the  day  will  be  our 
own ;  but  unless  it  is  done,  all  chance  of  liberty,  in  any 
part  of  the  globe,  is  for  ever  vanished.  Adieu,  my  dear 
friend  ;  God  bless  you." 

This  was  probably  in  reply  to  a  letter  from  Gates  ad- 
dressed to  Washington,  delivered  to  him  by  Wilkinson, 
the  aid  of  Gates,  who,  on  his  route  to  the  commander-in- 
chief,  had  sought  and  found  the  second  in  command.  Lee 
had  just  finished  his  epistle  when  a  party  of  British  dra- 
goons advanced  upon  the  tavern  in  which  he  was,  at  full 
charge.  Lee  called  for  the  guard.  "  Where  is  the  guard  ? 
damn  the  guard,  why  don't  they  fire  ?  Do,  sir,"  to  Wil- 
kinson, "see  what  has  become  of  the  guard."  The 
guards,  reposing  in  the  sun,  were  scattered  by  the  dra- 
goons. The  women  proposed  to  put  Lee  to  bed,  but  he 
refused.  Wilkinson  took  refuge  in  a  hiding-place,  Lee 
was  captured,  and  without  hat  or  coat,  in  slippers,  and 
covered  with  a  blanket,  mounted  on  Wilkinson's  horse, 
he  terminated  this  campaign,  a  prisoner  at  Brunswick. 
Thus  was  he  relieved  from  "  a  choice  of  difficulties." 

"  It  was  an  aggravation  of  the  misfortune,"  wrote  an 
English  soldier,  "  to  lose  him  under  such  circumstances, 
which  favored  an  opinion,  that  despairing  of  the  Ameri- 
can cause  he  suffered  himself  to  be  taken  prisoner."  * 

On  receiving  tidings  of  his  capture,  his  friends  de- 
plored his  loss  as  irreparable.  John  Trumbull,  adjutant- 
general  to  Gates,  wrote  from  Bethlehem  to  Governor 
Trumbull :  f  "  Lee's  army  cross  at  Easton  this  day.  Our 
affairs  have  never  been  in  so  critical  a  situation.  New 
York  and  Jersey  totally  lost  except  the  back  woods ; 

*  Journal  of  occurrences,  by  R.  Lamb,  p.  130.     "  Qui  se  fait  brebis,  le 
loup  le  mange."  f  Dec*  16. 

VOL.  I.— 11 


162  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1776 

the  army  inferior,  and  at  the  same  time  when  most  want- 
ed deprived  of  the  best,  almost  the  only,  officer  who  could 
rescue  them  from  a  situation  so  nigh  desperate." 

Benjamin  Rush  of  the  medical  staff  thus  condoles  with 
Richard  Henry  Lee.*  "  Since  the  captivity  of  General 
Lee  a  distrust  has  crept  in  among  the  troops  of  the  abili- 
ties of  some  of  our  general  officers  high  in  command. 
They  expect  nothing  now  from  heaven-taught  and  book- 
taught  generals." 

Hancock,  president  of  Congress,  wrote  to  Robert 
Morris  from  Baltimore,!  "  I  am  afraid  his  loss  will  be  se- 
verely felt,  as  he  was  in  great  measure  the  idol  of  the 
officers,  and  possessed  still  more,  the  confidence  of  the 
soldiery." 

The  day  after  Lee's  capture,J  and  before  the  tidings 
had  reached  him,  Washington  wrote  to  Gates :  "  I  have 
heard  that  you  are  coming  on  with  seven  regiments.  This 
may  have  a  happy  effect,  and  let  me  entreat  you  not  to  de- 
lay a  moment  in  hastening  to  Pittstown.  You  will  advise 
me  of  your  approaches.  I  expect  General  Lee  will  be 
there  this  evening  or  to-morrow,  who  will  be  followed  by 
General  Heath  and  his  division.  If  we  can  draw  our 
forces  together,  I  trust,  under  the  smiles  of  Providence, 
we  may  yet  effect  an  important  stroke,  or  at  least  prevent 
General  Howe  from  executing  his  plans."  At  the  same 
time  he  writes  to  Heath,  "  I  am  extremely  pleased  by  the 
ready  attention  you  have  paid  to  my  orders,  and  have 
only  to  request  that  you  will  proceed  with  your  troops, 
with  all  possible  despatch,  to  Pittstown,  pursuing  General 
Lee's  route,  and  where  I  expect  you  will  join  him.  Lose 
not  a  moment.  The  situation  of  our  affairs  demands  in- 
dustry and  despatch  on  all  hands.  If  we  can  collect  our 
force,  and  speedily,  I  should  hope  we  may  effect  something 

*  Dec.  21.  f  Dec.  2.1.  J  Dec.  14. 


^Ex.  19.]  HAMILTON.  163 

of  importance,  or  at  least  give  such  a  turn  to  our  affairs 
as  to  make  them  assume  a  more  pleasing  aspect  than  they 
now  have." 

He  had  ordered  him  to  leave  a  body  of  twelve  or  fif- 
teen hundred  men  to  secure  the  passes  in  the  Highlands. 

Sullivan,,  now  in  command  of  Lee's  division,  united  in 
the  urgent  call.  Abandoning  the  intended  route  of  Lee, 
he  pressed  on  to  Easton,  and  on  the  seventeenth  of  De- 
cember, the  troops,  delighted  with  their  new  commander, 
crossed  the  Delaware.  Gates  also  was  coming  up  with 
nine  hundred  men.  A  junction  of  these  forces  being 
made  on  the  twentieth,  Washington  proposed  to  Gates  to 
take  command  at  Bristol,  and  thence  to  co-operate  with 
him.  Unwilling  to  hold  other  than  an  independent  com- 
mand, pleading  ill  health,  Gates  asked  permission  to  pro- 
ceed to  Philadelphia.  The  commander-in-chief  requested 
him  to  stop  at  Bristol  a  day  or  two,  in  order  to  concert 
with  Cadwallader  and  Reed  a  plan  of  operations.  He 
preferred  not  to  obey  this  request.  The  day  before  the 
battle  of  Trenton  he  proceeded  to  the  seat  of  Congress, 
indulging,  on  his  way,  gloomy  vaticinations  as  to  Wash- 
ington's army  ;  and  arriving  in  time  to  learn  its  resolves,* 
investing  Washington  with  almost  unlimited  military  pow- 
er, communicated  in  terms  of  well-deserved  confidence. 
"  Happy  is  it  for  this  country,  that  the  general  of  their 
forces  can  safely  be  intrusted  with  the  most  unlimited 
power,  and  neither  personal  security,  liberty  or  property, 
be  in  the  least  degree  endangered."  f  "I  shall  constantly 
bear  in  mind,"  Washington  replied,  "  that  as  the  sword 
was  the  last  resort  for  the  preservation  of  our  liberties, 
so  it  ought  to  be  the  first  thing  laid  aside  when  those  lib- 
erties are  firmly  established." 

It  was  the  arrival  of  the  troops  recently  under  Lee 

*  Doc.  27,  1776.  f  Washington's  Writings,  iv.  552. 


THE   REPUBLIC.  [1776 

that  enabled  him  to  rescue  Philadelphia,  to  turn  the  tide 
of  the  war,  and  terminate  the  campaign  with  highest  dis- 
tinction. In  this  great  extremity,  unhappily,  Lee  and 
Gates  were  not  alone  wanting  to  their  duty.  They  were 
foreigners  by  birth,  education,  habit.  If  the  liberties  of 
America  were  lost,  they  could  seek  elsewhere  a  home 
and  an  easy  solace.  But  there  was  another  individual 
whose  conduct,  only  recently  recorded  on  the  page  of 
history,  startles  with  surprise. 

The  son  of  a  "  laboring  farmer  "  of  Massachusetts,  a 
witness  of  her  grievous  wrongs,  raised  from  his  humble 
state  to  high  distinguished  trust,  chosen  to  Congress  ex- 
pressly to  draw  the  other  colonies  to  aid  her  noble  efforts, 
claiming  pre-eminence  in  inciting  the  American  people 
to  independence — this  favored  person  was  among  the 
first  to  abandon,  and  the  latest  to  resume  his  trust. 

When  a  battle  near  New  York  was  approaching,  a 
sudden  change  came  over  the  mind  of  JOHN  ADAMS.  He 
began  to  sigh  for  the  modest  quiet  of  private  life.  "  I  had 
rather,"  he  wrote,  "  build  stone  wall  on  Penn's  Hill,  than 
to  be  the  first  prince  in  Europe,  or  the  first  general  or 
first  senator  in  America."  * 

He  would  at  this  time — four  days  before  the  landing 
of  Howe  upon  Long  Island  f — have  abandoned  his  seat  in 
Congress ;  but  a  sense  of  shame  restrained  him,  and  per- 
haps the  result  might  be  fortunate.  It  proved  to  be  "  un- 
fortunate," and  as  the  consequences  became  more  serious, 
more  menacing,  he  could  no  longer  resist  his  yearnings 
for  "  Penn's  Hill."  On  the  thirteenth  of  October,  at  the 
moment  Washington  was  writing  from  Haerlem  heights 
that  his  army  was  "on  the  eve  of  dissolution,"  when 
Howe  was  advancing  to  strike  a  decisive  blow,  he  left 
Congress,  followed  by  the  triumphant  scoffings  of  the 

*  Aug.  18,  1776.  f  Aug.  22,  1776. 


^ET.  19.]  HAMILTON.  165 

enemy.*  In  his  route  he  avoided  the  army,  keeping 
above  the  Highlands,  nor  did  he  return  until  the  first  of 
the  following  February  after  the  victories  of  Trenton  and 
of  Princeton  had  turned  the  scale,  f  Yet  at  this  crisis  John 
Adams  was  chairman  of  the  Board  of  War !  One  of  his 
first  utterances  after  his  return  was  a  censure  of  Wash- 
ington addressed  to  a  general  officer,  J  "  What  is  the  army 
at  Providence  about?  What  is  become  of  the  army  at 
Peekskill,  or  on  the  White  Plains  ?  What  numbers  have 
they  ?  Are  we  to  go  on  for  ever  in  this  way,  maintain- 
ing vast  armies  in  idleness,  and  losing  the  fairest  opportu- 

*  Irving's  Washington,  ii.  447 :  "  The  two  Adamses  are  in  New  England.' 
f  The  knowledge  of  these  facts  is  derived  from  the  "  Life  of  John  Adams, 
by  his  grandson,  Charles  Adams."  Works,  i.  453  :  "  If  it  had  not  been  for  tht, 
critical  state  of  things,"  J.  Adams  writes,  "  I  should  have  been  at  Boston  ere 
now.  But  a  battle  being  expected  at  New  York,  as  it  is  every  day,  and  liar 
been  for  some  time,  I  thought  it  would  not  be  well  to  leave  my  station  here. 
Indeed,  if  the  decision  should  be  unfortunate  for  America,  it  will  be  absolutely 
necessary  for  a  Congresx  to  be  sitting,  and  perhaps  I  may  be  as  well  calculated 
to  sustain  such  a  stroke  as  some  others.  It  will  be  necessary  to  have  some 
persons  here  who  will  not  be  seized  with  an  ague  fit." — J,  Adams  to  James  War- 
ren, Aug.  17,  1776.  J.  Adams  to  his  wife,  ii.  43,  Oct.  11 :  "I yesterday  asked 
and  obtained  leave  of  absence."  Diary,  ii.  243 :  "  Oct.  13.  Sunday,  set  out 
from  Philadelphia  towards  Boston ;  rode  thirty  miles,  crossing  the  Delaware 
at  Trenton."  P.  257:  "  Worn  out  with  constant  labors  in  his  department  and 
in  Congress,  after  the  adoption  of  the  measures  to  reorganize  the  army,  which 
were  the  most  urgent  (see,  in  contradiction,  Journals  of  Congress  for  Nov.  19, 
22,  25,  26,  27,  Dec.  1,  9,  10,  27,  1776),  Mr.  Adams,  availing  himself  of  his 
leave  of  absence  for  the  rest  of  the  year,  on  the  13th,  of  the  same  month  (October) 
mounted  his  horse  and  returned  home.  Congress  removed  to  Baltimore, 
whither  Mr.  Adams  directed  his  steps  on  the  9th  of  January,  1777,  winding 
his  way  through  Connecticut  to  Fishkill,  finding,  as  he  said,  not  one  half  the 
discontent  nor  of  the  terror  among  the  people  that  he  left  in  the  Massachusetts." 
P.  258  :  "  The  round-about  journey  to  Baltimore  took  three  weeks  to  accomplish. 
He  arrived  on  the  evening  of  the  1st  of  February."  P.  259  :  "I  have  been," 
he  wrote,  "  so  long  absent,  that  I  seemed  to  have  lost  all  my  correspondents 
in  the  army." 

{  Adams  to  Gen.  Sullivan,  Feb.  22,  1777. 


166  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1776. 

nity  that  ever  offered  of  destroying  an  enemy  completely 
in  our  power  ?  "  * 

In  strongest  contrast  with  these  delinquent  persons 
stood,  next  to  Washington  in  real  and  deserved  pre-emi- 
nence, General  NATHANIEL  GREENE.  "Descended,"  as 
Hamilton  stated,  "  from  reputable  parents,  but  not  placed 
by  birth  in  that  elevated  rank,  which,  under  a  monarchy, 
is  the  only  sure  road  to  those  employments  that  give  acti- 
vity and  scope  to  abilities,  he  must  in  all  probability  have 
contented  himself  with  the  humble  lot  of  a  private  citi- 
zen, or  at  most,  with  the  contracted  sphere  of  an  elective 
office,  in  a  colonial  and  dependent  government,  scarcely 
conscious  of  the  resources  of  his  own  mind,  had  not  the 
violated  rights  of  his  country  called  him  to  act  a  part  on 
a  more  splendid  and  more  ample  theatre. 

Happily  for  America  he  hesitated  not  to  obey  the  call. 
The  vigor  of  his  genius,  corresponding  with  the  importance 
of  the  prize  to  be  contended  for,  overcame  the  natural 
moderation  of  his  temper ;  and,  though  not  hurried  on  by 
enthusiasm,  but  animated  by  an  enlightened  sense  of  the 
value  of  free  government,  he  cheerfully  resolved  to  stake 
his  fortune,  his  hopes,  his  life,  and  his  honor  upon  an  en- 
terprise, the  danger  of  which  he  knew  the  whole  magni- 
tude, in  a  cause,  which  was  worthy  of  the  toils  and  of  the 
blood  of  heroes. 

The  sword  having  been  appealed  to  at  Lexington,  as 
the  arbiter  of  the  controversy  between  Great  Britain  and 
America,  Greene  shortly  after  marched,  at  the  head  of  a 
regiment,  to  join  the  American  forces  at  Cambridge,  de- 

*  "  In  other  words,  Congress  contemplated  the  transformation  of  a  delegate 
from  their  own  body  into  a  WAR  MINISTER  !  "  Ibid.  p.  250  :  "  With  the  ex- 
ception of  the  brilliant  actions  of  Trenton  and  Princeton,  there  was  little  in 
the  military  department,  while  he  had  the  superintendence  of  it,  that  was  calcu- 
lated to  cheer  his  spirits.  But  he  never  despaired." 


/Ex.  19.]  HAMILTON.  107 

termined  to  abide  the  awful  decision.  He  was  not  long 
there  before  the  discerning  eye  of  the  American  FA.BIUS 
marked  him  out  as  the  object  of  his  confidence.  His  abil- 
ities entitled  him  to  a  pre-eminent  share  in  the  councils  of 
his  chief.  He  gained  it,  and  he  preserved  it,  amidst  all 
the  checkered  varieties  of  military  vicissitude,  and  in  de- 
fiance of  all  the  intrigues  of  jealous  and  aspiring  rivals. 

As  long  as  the  measures  which  conducted  us  safely 
through  the  first  most  critical  stages  of  the  war  shall  be 
remembered  with  approbation,  as  long  as  the  enterprises 
of  Trenton  *  and  Princeton  shall  be  regarded  as  the 
dawnings  of  that  bright  day,  which  afterwards  broke 
forth  with  such  resplendent  lustre,  as  long  as  the  almost 
magic  operations  of  the  remainder  of  that  memorable 
winter,  distinguished  not  more  by  these  events  than  by 
the  extraordinary  spectacle  of  a  powerful  army  straitened 
within  narrow  limits  by  the  phantom  of  a  military  force, 
and  never  permitted  to  transgress  those  limits  with  impu- 
nity, in  which  skill  supplied  the  place  of  means,  and  dis- 
position was  the  substitute  for  an  army ;  as  long  as  these 
operations  shall  continue  to  be  the  objects  of  curiosity  and 
wonder,  so  long  ought  the  name  of  Greene  to  be  revered 
by  a  grateful  country." 

This  was  but  the  opening  of  his  brilliant  career,  whom, 
after  its  termination,  Hamilton  pronounced  "THE  FIRST 

SOLDIER    OF    THE    REVOLUTION."  f 

In  important  service  with  the  main  army,  John  Sulli- 
van was  next.  This  dauntless  soldier  was  of  a  race  dis- 

*  Greene  to  Governor  Cooke,  Dec.  21,  1776 :  "  The  fright  and  disaffection 
was  so  great  in  the  Jersies,  that  in  our  retreat  of  one  hundred  and  odd  miles, 
we  were  never  joined  by  more  than  a  hundred  men.  *  *  *  We  arc  now  on 
the  west  side  of  the  Delaware ;  our  force,  though  small,  collected  together :  but 
small  as  it  is,  I  hope  to  give  the  enemy  a  stroke  in  a  few  days." 

f  Graha;ne's  Hist.  U.  S.,  iv.  463 :  "  Nathaniel  Greene,  the  greatest  mili- 
tary genius  tluit  America  produced  in  the  Revolutionary  War." 


168  THE   REPUBLIC. 

tinguished  for  their  impetuous  courage.  His  descent  was 
good  :  O'Sullivan,  the  paternal  ancestor,  was  Lord  of 
Beerhaven  in  County  Kerry,  "  well  known  as  the  most 
beautiful  tract  in  the  British  isles."  *  On  his  mother's  side 
were  men  who  had  fallen  in  the  defence  of  Ireland  when 
it  was  reduced  by  the  Prince  of  Orange.  His  father  was 
a  scholar,  and,  emigrating  to  America,  acquired  a  liveli- 
hood giving  instruction  in  the  classics. 

From  him  Sullivan  obtained  an  education  above  that 
of  his  fellows,  and  caught  the  fire  which  lighted  him 
along  his  distinguished  career. 

In  December  seventy-four,  receiving  news  of  the  pro- 
hibition to  export  gunpowder  to  the  colonies,  at  the  head 
of  a  small  party,  in  a  bright,  freezing  night,  with  a  "  two- 
oared  gondola,"  Sullivan  dropped  down  the  Piscataqua, 
increased  his  numbers  at  Portsmouth,  scaled  the  fort  at 
the  entrance  of  the  harbor,  overpowered  the  garrison,  and 
carried  off  its  powder  and  small  arms,  secreting  a  part 
under  the  pulpit  of  the  old  meeting  house  at  Durham.f 

Here  he  commenced  the  practice  of  the  law,  and  sig- 
nalized by  his  ardent  temper,  was,  at  the  outbreak  of  the 
revolution,  elected  to  represent  New  Hampshire  in  the 
first  Continental  Congress.  There  he  commanded  respect 
and  confidence.  Having  been  chosen  a  delegate  to  the 
second  Congress,  in  the  selection  of  the  general  staff,  he 
was  commissioned  one  of  the  eight  brigadiers  first  ap- 
pointed, and  took  the  command  of  a  brigade  then  on  duty 
near  Boston.  His  influence  induced  the  New  Hampshire 
troops  to  continue  in  the  service  while  others  were  de- 
parting, and  he  was  active  in  obtaining  supplie.8  and  am- 
munition in  this  early  time  of  need.  Ordered  to  Canada 
when  the  posts  could  be  no  longer  held,  his  retreat  was 

*  See  Macaulay's  exquisite  description. — Hist,  of  England,  iv.  107. 
f  Capt.  Bennett's  Narrative.     See  also  Force. 


Mr.  19.]  HAMILTON.  169 

masterly.  Thence  he  joined  the  army  at  New  York,  and 
was  captured  in  the  battle  of  Long  Island.  Being  ex- 
changed, he  resumed  his  command.  He  entered  Trenton 
at  the  head  of  his  column  and  carried  it  while  the  other 
bodies  were  coming  up  ;  and  at  Princeton  was  in  the  front 
of  his  line,  under  the  fire  of  the  enemy. 

Washington  describes  him  as  "active,  spirited,  and 
ardently  attached  to  the  cause.  That  he  does  not  want 
abilities,  many  members  of  Congress  can  testify ;  but  he 
has  his  wants  and  his  foibles.  The  latter  are  manifested 
in  his  little  tincture  of  vanity,  and  in  an  over-desire  of 
being  popular,  which  now  and  then  lead  him  into  embar- 
rassments," but  he  has  "  an  enterprising  genius." 

Of  strong  purpose,  never  shrinking  from  duty,  he  was 
selected  for  stations  which  demanded  energy  and  intre- 
pidity, qualities  that  never  failed  him. 

The  first  regiment  of  artillery  on  the  continental  estab- 
lishment had  been  confided  to  HENRY  KNOX,  a  native  of 
Boston.  Taking  an  early  and  an  active  part  in  concerting 
opposition  to  the  restrictive  acts  of  Parliament,  he  showed 
his  devotion  to  liberty  by  leaving  a  lucrative  employment, 
and  joining  the  army  as  a  volunteer  in  the  battle  of  Bun- 
ker's Hill. 

Alarmed  at  the  deficiency  of  ordnance,  which  gave  the 
enemy  vast  superiority,  Knox,  full  of  ardor,  hastened  to 
the  Canadian  frontier,  where,  by  his  personal  exertions, 
amid  the  depths  of  winter,  he  was  enabled  in  some  meas- 
ure to  supply  this  want.  His  enterprise  received  the 
grateful  approbation  of  the  commander-in-chief.  He  was 
appointed  a  colonel  of  artillery,  and  upon  the  increase  of 
that  corps,  was  promoted  to  the  command  of  a  brigade. 

Of  high  integrity,  a  sound  understanding,  a  warm, 
brave  heart,  gay  among  his  comrades,  cool  in  battle,  he 
was  soon  classed  among  those  individuals  to  whom  the 


THE    KEPUBLIC.  [1770. 

country  might  look  with  confidence  in  its  greatest  perils. 
Frank,  liberal  and  sincere,  he  won  and  preserved  the  re- 
gard of  his  brother  officers,  and  could  boast  that  which 
was  a  passport  to  consideration,  of  being  a  man  whom 
"  Washington  loved." 

Another  officer  had  also  gained  much  of  his  confi- 
dence, General  John  Cadwallader,  a  gentleman  of  power- 
ful connections  in  Jersey,  Maryland  and  Pennsylvania. 
At  the  head  of  a  body  of  volunteers  from  the  latter  State, 
he  marched  to  the  aid  of  the  commander-in-chief  in  his 
retreat  through  New  Jersey,  and  a  most  important  and 
difficult  share  of  the  enterprise  which  expelled  the  enemy 
from  the  borders  of  the  Delaware  was  confided  to  him. 
Upon  the  new  organization  of  the  army,  the  command  of 
a  brigade  was  offered  to  him  and  declined.  But  in  all 
moments  of  difficulty  he  instantly  repaired  to  head-quar- 
ters, his  patriotism,  nobleness,  and  ample  fortune  leaving 
no  opening  for  a  thought  of  personal  interest,  and  ensur- 
ing him  the  welcome  of  the  army. 

The  gentlemen  who  at  this  time  composed  the  personal 
staff  of  the  commander-in-chief,  were  Colonel  Robert  II. 
Harrison,  a  native  of  Maryland,  who  at  an  early  age  re- 
moved to  Alexandria.  There,  as  a  member  of  the  bar, 
he  was  employed  by  Washington,  and  soon  after  he  had 
taken  the  command  at  Cambridge,  was  urgently  invited 
by  him  to  join  his  military  family.  "  Sensible,  clever,  and 
perfectly  confidential,"  he  sacrificed  his  health  to  the  ar- 
duous duties  of  his  station.  He  was  commonly  known  as 
the  "  Old  Secretary."  Discreet,  ingenuous,  fearless,  an 
officer  in  whom  every  man  had  confidence,  and  by  whom 
no  man  was  deceived,  he  commanded  universal  respect. 
The  other  members  of  the  staff  were  the  generous  and 
accomplished  Tilghman  of  Maryland,  and  the  amiable, 
chivalrous  Meade  of  Virginia.  Hamilton  was  now  ap- 


^)T.  19.]  HAMILTON.  171 

pointed  to  the  staff,  and,  as  Washington  states,  became 
"  his  principal  and  most  confidential  aid."  The  inter- 
course of  this  military  family  was  most  kind ;  and  the 
relation  of  Lafayette,  that,  during  a  familiar  association 
of  five  years,  no  instance  of  disagreement  occurred,  is 
evidence  of  the  tone  of  feeling  which  prevailed. 

Harrison,  who  was  much  the  elder,  treated  Hamilton 
with  especial  kindness,  and  soon  after  he  joined  the  staff 
gave  him  the  epithet  by  which  he  was  familiarly  known, 
of  "  the  Little  Lion." 


CHAPTER    VII. 

ON  his  appointment  to  the  staff  of  Washington,  Lieuten- 
ant-colonel Hamilton,  immediately  after  his  recovery  from 
a  severe  indisposition,  induced  by  the  hardships  of  the 
campaign,  apprised  the  convention  of  New  York  of  his 
change  of  situation,  suggesting  the  transfer  of  his  com- 
pany to  the  Continental  establishment.  He  did  not  omit 
to  recommend  to  promotion  an  officer  of  merit. 

A  reply  from  Governeur  Morris  and  Allison  informed 
him  that  they,  with  Robert  R.  Livingston,  had  been  ap- 
pointed a  committee  of  the  convention  to  correspond  with 
him  at  head-quarters,  and  concurred  with  him  as  to  the 
disposal  of  his  company.  A  frequent  correspondence 
ensued. 

Having  served  through  the  most  arduous  campaign  of 
the  Revolution,  and  having  thus  entitled  himself  to  promo- 
tion in  the  line  of  the  army,  Hamilton  hesitated  much  be- 
fore he  decided  to  relinquish  this  advantage  for  a  place  in 
the  staff.  He  had  already,  as  has  been  stated,  declined  a 
similar  invitation  from  two  general  officers,  but  influenced 
by  the  reputation  of  the  commander-in-chief,  he  entered 
upon  the  discharge  of  his  new  duties  with  all  the  devo- 
tion due  to  his  early  and  illustrious  friend. 

The  situation  of  aide-de-camp  to  the  commander-in- 
chef,  from  the  position  he  held,  not  merely  of  head  of  the 


^Er.  20.]  HAMILTON.  173 

army,  but  as  intermediate  between  Congress  and  numer- 
ous sovereign  Slates  *  whose  relations  were  not  defined, 
was  extremely  arduous. 

The  pressure  of  the  correspondence  Washington  prin- 
cipally felt.  In  the  selection  of  his  staff,  he  stated  to  Col- 
onel Harrison,  "  as  to  military  knowledge,  I  do  not  find 
gentlemen  much  skilled  in  it ;  if  they  can  write  a  good  let- 
ter, write  quick,  are  methodical  and  diligent,  it  is  all  T 
expect  to  find  in  my  aides." 

Of  these  the  changes  had  been  frequent.  As  yet  but 
one  individual  approached  the  desired  standard  in  respect 
to  education  and  ability — Colonel  Joseph  Reed  of  Penn- 
sylvania. "  That  I  feel  the  want  of  you,"  Washington 
wrote  to  him  during  a  temporary  absence,  "  yourself  can 
Judge,  when  I  inform  you  that  the  peculiar  situation  of 
Mr.  Randolph's  f  affairs  obliged  him  to  leave  this  soon 
after  you  did  ;  that  Mr.  Baylor,  contrary  to  my  expecta- 
tion, is  not  in  the  smallest  degree  a  penman,  though  spir- 
ited and  willing,  and  that  Mr.  Harrison,  though  sensible, 
clever,  and  perfectly  confidential,  has  never  yet  moved 
upon  so  large  a  scale  as  to  comprehend  at  one  view  the 
diversity  of  matter  which  comes  before  me,  so  as  to  afford 
that  ready  assistance  which  every  man  in  my  situation 
must  stand  more  or  less  in  need  of."  J  A  few  weeks  after 
he  again  writes  him  :  "  Real  necessity  compels  me  to  ask 
you  whether  I  can  entertain  any  hopes  of  your  returning 
to  my  family  ?  If  you  can  make  it  convenient,  and  will 
hint  the  matter  to  Col.  Harrison,  I  dare  venture  to  say 
that  Congress  will  make  it  agreeable  to  you  in  every 
shape  they  can.  My  business  increases  very  fast,  and  my 

*  Washington  to  Congress,  July  25,  1776. 

f  Edmund  Randolph  appointed  A.  D.  C.  in  place  of  Mifflin,  at  the  instance 
of  R.  H.  Lee. 

\  Life  of  Reed,  i.  127.     Nov.  20,  1775. 


174:  THE    KE PUB LIC.  [1777. 

distresses  for  want  of  you  along  with  it.  Mr.  Harrison  is 
the  only  gentleman  of  my  family  that  can  afford  me  the 
least  assistance  in  writing."  "  At  present  my  time  is  so 
much  taken  up  at  my  desk,  that  I  am  obliged  to  neglect 
many  other  essential  parts  of  my  duty :  it  is  absolutely 
necessary,  therefore,  for  me  to  have  persons  that  can  think 
for  me,  as  well  as  execute  orders."  * 

It  was  to  meet  these  requirements  that  he  sought  the 
services  of  Hamilton,  to  whom  the  preparation  of  most  of 
the  elaborate  and  important  communications  was  confided. 
The  extent  of  his  services  in  this  line,  though  not  fully, 
is  partially  ascertained  by  reference  to  the  records  in  the 
Department  of  State,  where  the  original  drafts  of  most  of 
the  correspondence  from  head-quarters  during  the  Revo- 
lution exist,  with  the  transcripts  made  by  order  of  the 
government. 

A  few  days  before  Hamilton  retired  from  his  staff,  on 
the  fourth  of  April,  seventeen  hundred  and  eighty-one,  the 
commander-in-chief  wrote  to  the  President  of  Congress, 
from  New  Windsor.  "  The  business  that  has  given  con 
stant  exercise  to  the  pen  of  my  secretary,  and  not  only 
frequently  but  always  to  those  of  my  aides-de-camp,  has 
rendered  it  impracticable  for  the  former  to  register  the 
copies  of  my  letters  and  instructions  in  books ;  by  which 
means,  valuable  documents,  which  may  be  of  equal  public 
utility  and  private  satisfaction,  remain  in  loose  sheets,  and 
in  the  rough  manner  in  which  they  were  first  drawn.  This 
is  not  only  attended  with  present  inconvenience,  but  has  a 
tendency  to  expose  them  to  damage  and  to  loss.  Unless 
a  set  of  writers  are  employed  for  the  sole  purpose  of  re- 
cording them,  it  will  not  be  in  my  power  to  accomplish 
this  necessary  work  ;  and  it  will  be  equally  impracticable, 
perhaps,  to  preserve  from  injury  and  loss  such  valuable 

*  Life  of  Reed,  i.  146.     Nov.  20,  1775. 


JET.  20.]  HAMILTON. 

papers."  *  The  letter  concludes  with  a  request  of  per- 
mission to  engage  copyists,  which  was  granted. 

The  amount  and  extent  of  the  labor  of  his  staff  is 
stated  in  a  letter  from  Washington  to  Congress.  "  I  give 
in  to  no  kind  of  amusements  myself,  and  consequently 
those  about  me  can  have  none,  but  are  confined  from 
morning  till  evening,  hearing  and  answering  the  applica- 
tions and  letters  of  one  and  another,  which  will  now,  I 
expect,  receive  a  considerable  addition,  as  the  business  of 
the  northern  and  eastern  departments,  if  I  continue  here, 
must,  I  suppose,  pass  through  my  hands.  If  these  gentle- 
men had  the  same  relaxation  from  duty  as  other  officers 
have  in  their  common  routine,  there  would  not  be  so  much 
in  it.  But  to  have  the  mind  always  upon  the  stretch, 
scarce  ever  unbent,  and  no  hours  for  recreation,  makes  a 
material  odds.  Knowing  this,  and  at  the  same  time  how 
inadequate  the  pay  is,  I  can  scarce  find  inclination  to  im- 
pose the  necessary  duties  of  their  office  upon  them."  f 

Amid  the  various  high  duties  which  engrossed  him,  the 
attention  of  Washington  was  at  this  time  particularly  di- 
rected to  a  negotiation  relative  to  the  exchange  of  prison- 
ers— a  matter  of  not  easy  adjustment — and  in  a  civil  war, 
such  as  this,  which  England  could  only  treat  as  a  rebel- 
lion, attended  with  great  embarrassments. 

The  capture  of  St.  Johns  in  the  preceding  autumn, 
first  placed  this  matter  before  Congress.  In  a  spirit  not 
less  dictated  by  a  liberal  view  of  the  interests  of  nations 
at  war,  than  by  the  calls  of  humanity,  they  immediately 
directed  an  equal  exchange  of  prisoners,  which  was  fol- 
lowed by  successive  resolutions,  giving  them  a  choice  of 
residence,  directing  them  to  be  treated  with  kindness, 
making  the  same  provision  for  them  as  for  their  own 

*  Washington's  Writings,  vii.  467. 

f  Washington's  Writings,  i-i.  809.     April  23,  1776. 


176  THE   REPUBLIC.  (1777. 

troops  ;  appointing  a  commissioned  officer  to  protect  them 
from  neglect,  and  assigning  the  punctual  payment  of  their 
allowances  as  the  especial  duty  of  the  president  of  each 
convention,  or  of  the  speakers  of  the  assemblies. 

These  regulations  were  strictly  enforced,  and  every 
instance  of  inattention  promptly  redressed. 

The  measures  of  the  commander-in-chief  fully  corre- 
sponded with  the  policy  of  Congress. 

An  opposite  line  of  conduct  had  been  adopted  by  the 
enemy,  little  in  consonance  with  the  character  and  feel- 
ings of  the  British  people.  The  greatest  indignation  was 
excited  in  both  countries  by  recitals  of  the  indignities  to 
which  the  captured  Americans  had  been  subjected.  Of 
these  the  most  flagrant  instance  was  that  of  Ethan  Allen 
by  General  Prescott,  which  led  to  a  correspondence  on 
the  part  of  Washington  with  Howe,  in  the  tone  of  which 
the  latter  had  the  advantage.  Terms  of  exchange  had 
been  settled  with  him  before  the  preceding  campaign,  but, 
in  his  successful  career,  they  had  been  departed  from. 

The  capture  of  Fort  Washington  had  much  increased 
the  number  of  American  prisoners,  showing,  at  the  end  of 
seventy-six,  a  considerable  aggregate  in  favor  of  the  Brit- 
ish. Being  chiefly  a  class  of  men  who  had  suffered  few 
privations,  the  captured  colonists  clamored  loudly  at  re- 
strictions unavoidable,  and  excesses  without  palliation. 
The  situation  of  General  Lee,  who  had  been  taken  to  New 
York,  was  at  this  moment  of  especial  interest.  Congress, 
on  learning  this  event,  had  offered  in  exchange  six  field- 
officers  of  inferior  rank,  one  of  whom  was  Colonel  Camp- 
bell, a  Highland  soldier  and  member  of  Parliament.  This 
offer  was  rejected,  and  Lee  was  placed  in  confinement, 
with  an  intimation  that  his  treatment  would  be  different 
from  that  of  prisoners  of  war. 

Indignant  at  this  procedure,  Congress  instantly  or- 


^Er.  20.]  HAMILTON.  177 

dered  Campbell  and  the  Hessian  officers  into  close  cu«- 
tody ;  and  threatened  retaliation  for  every  indignity  of- 
fered to  the  Americans.  Campbell,  being  confined  to  the 
jail  in  Concord,  wrote  to  Washington.  The  reply,  dated 
on  the  day  of  his  appointment  as  aide,  was  written  by 
Hamilton  :  "  I  am  not  invested  with  the  powers  you  sup- 
pose, and  it  is  incompatible  with  my  authority  as  with  my 
inclination  to  contravene  any  determination  Congress  may 
make.  But  as  it  does  not  appear  to  me  that  your  present 
treatment  is  required  by  any  resolution  of  theirs,  but  is 
the  result  of  misconception,  I  have  written  my  opinion  of 
the  matter  to  Colonel  Bowdoin,*  which  I  imagine  will 
procure  a  mitigation  of  what  you  suffer.  I  shall  aiways 
be  happy  to  manifest  my  disinclination  to  any  undue  se- 
verities towards  those  whom  the  fortune  of  war  may 
chance  to  throw  into  my  hands."  A  letter  was  also  writ- 
ten to  Congress :  "  Retaliation  is  certainly  just,  and  some- 
times necessary,  even  where  attended  with  the  severest 
penalties  ;  but,  when  the  evils  which  may  and  must  result 
from  it  exceed  those  intended  to  be  redressed,  prudence 
and  policy  require  that  it  should  be  avoided."  "  The 
present  state  of  our  army,  if  it  deserves  that  name,  will 
not  authorize  the  language  of  retaliation  or  the  style  of 
menace."  Congress  did  not  yield,  having  refused  a  re- 
quest of  Lee  for  a  conference  with  him ;  of  which  refusal 
he  complained  sorely.  An  effort  was  again  made  to  es- 
tablish a  cartel,  but  the  English  commissioner  displayed  a 
temper  little  favorable  to  a  happy  issue.  It  seemed  rather 
to  have  been  his  design  to  indulge  in  arrogant  crimination, 
than  to  promote  an  object  mutually  beneficial.  The  im- 
portance of  meeting  the  charges  made  was  strongly  felt, 
and  the  task  of  vindicating  the  course  which  had  been 
adopted,  was  confided  to  Hamilton.  "  The  pen  for  our 

*  President  of  Massachusetts. 

VOL.  I.— 12 


178  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

army,"  says  Troup,  "  was  held  by  Hamilton  ;  and  for  dig- 
nity of  manner,  pith  of  matter,  and  elegance  of  style, 
General  Washington's  letters  are  unrivalled  in  military 
annals." 

The  negotiation  of  a  cartel  failed  in  consequence  of 
the  determination  of  Howe  not  to  include  Lee  within  the 
class  of  American  prisoners,  but  was  attended  with  flat- 
tering consequences.  The  correspondence  increased  the 
esteem  in  which  the  American  character  was  held  in 
Europe,  and  was  proudly  referred  to  as  another  evidence 
that  the  advocates  of  liberty  were  not  less  accomplished 
with  the  pen  than  with  the  sword. 

Previous  to  the  opening  of  the  campaign,  delayed  by 
the  severity  of  winter  and  by  hoped  reinforcements  on 
the  part  of  the  enemy,  Hamilton  in  behalf  of  Washing- 
ton wrote  to  the  governor  of  Georgia  informing  him  of 
orders  given  to  the  American  General  Howe,  command- 
ing there,  to  consult  writh  him  and  with  the  president  of 
South  Carolina  as  to  "  the  propriety  of  making  an  attempt 
upon  St.  Augustine.  The  good  consequences,"  he  ob- 
served, "  that  will  certainly  result  from  such  an  expedi- 
tion, if  attended  with  success,  are  too  obvious  to  escape 
your  notice,  and  lead  me  to  hope  for  a  ready  compliance 
with  the  requisition  ;  if  it  shall  appear,  after  due  consid- 
eration had  of  all  circumstances,  that  the  enterprise  would 
have  a  fortunate  and  favorable  issue."  This  was  the  first 
step  towards  an  extension  of  the  southern  bounds  of  this 
republic  and  the  command  of  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  of 
which  Hamilton  was  a  steadfast  advocate. 

When  the  season  for  military  operations  approached, 
the  greatest  anxiety  pervaded  the  United  States,  in  their 
defenceless  condition,  as  to  the  movements  of  the  enemy. 

Hamilton,  having  expressly  cautioned  the  convention 
of  New  York  to  distinguish  between  his  own  sentiments 


HAMILTON.  179 

and  those  of  "  the  General,"  again  wrote  them.  The  con- 
centration of  an  army  in  the  north,  and  the  obvious  policy 
of  seizing  the  passes  in  the  Highlands  of  the  Hudson, 
seemed  to  indicate  these  as  a  first  object.  Thus  the  cam- 
paign might  be  commenced  earlier  than  in  Pennsylvania, 
as  the  army  would  in  one  case  move  by  water,  and,  having 
the  command  of  that  important  river,  might  in  a  few 
hours  destroy  the  boats  provided  on  its  banks,  prevent 
Washington  from  crossing  until  they  had  reached  Albany, 
and  after  ravaging  the  interior  of  Ne  .v  York,  enter  Con- 
necticut on  the  western  side,  where  the  disaffection  of  a 
part  of  the  people  would  ensure  them  many  friends.  This 
course,  it  is  stated,  had  been  indicated  in  the  instructions 
from  London,  which  directed  a  squadron  to  make  a  diver- 
sion on  the  coast  of  New  England,  thus  to  induce  the 
withdrawal  of  a  part  of  the  troops  composing  the  northern 
army,  and  to  check  the  progress  of  enlistment  for  the 
main  body.*  This  view  Hamilton  did  not  take.  "  It 
seems  to  be  an  opinion,"  he  wrote  on  the  second  of  March, 
"  supported  by  the  best  reasons,  that  the  main  object  with 
which  they  will  open  the  campaign  will  be  the  capture  of 
Philadelphia.  If  so,  they  will  have  a  greater  probability 
of  success  by  co-operating  both  by  sea  and  land ;  and  the 
preparations  for  this,  added  to  the  dangers  of  making  an 
attempt  by  water  at  too  early  a  season,  will  in  all  likeli- 
hood protract  the  execution  of  their  project,  at  least  till 
the  time  I  have  mentioned — the  beginning  of  May." 

An  expedition  to  Peekskill  late  in  March,  where  large 
munitions  of  war  were  supposed  to  be  collected,  and 
which  the  gallantry  of  Colonel  Willett  prevented  from 
being  more  disastrous,  and  the  destruction  of  the  stores  at 
Danbury  where  Wooster  fell,  shook  this  opinion.  "  I 
congratulate  you,"  Hamilton  wrote,  "  on  the  late  impor- 

*  Hamilton's  Works,  I  15. 


180  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777 

tant  arrivals  to  the  eastward.  We  consider  them  as 
immense  acquisitions.  I  congratulate  you,  also,  on  the 
Danbury  expedition.  The  stores  destroyed  there  have 
been  purchased  at  a  pretty  high  price  to  the  enemy.  The 
spirit  of  the  people  on  the  occasion  does  them  great  honor, 
is  a  pleasing  proof  that  they  have  lost  nothing  of  that 
primitive  zeal  with  which  they  began  the  contest ;  and 
will  be  a  galling  discouragement  to  the  enemy  from  re- 
peating attempts  of  the  kind.  Such  an  opposition,  under 
such  circumstances,  was  not  to  be  expected.  By  every 
account,  both  from  our  friends  and  from  themselves,  they 
cannot  have  sustained  a  loss  of  less  than  five  hundred, 
killed,  wounded,  and  taken." 

The  enemy  about  this  time  made  a  movement  upon 
Amboy.  Hamilton,  immediately  on  learning  their  pur- 
pose, wrote  in  behalf  of  Washington  this  cautionary 
letter  to  Lord  Stirling,  in  command  of  a  body  of  Con- 
tinentals and  some  Jersey  troops.* 

:'*il  have  just  now  received  information,  and  I  believe 
it  is  well  founded,  that  the  enemy  have  formed  a  design 
during  the  suspension  of  more  important  operations,  to 
amuse  themselves  in  endeavoring  to  surprise  our  outposts. 
I  communicate  this,  to  put  you  upon  your  guard,  that  you 
may  take  proper  steps  to  counteract  them,  and  secure  us 
from  the  disagreeable  consequences  of  a  surprise  at  any 
of  the  posts  under  your  direction. 

"  Let  me  recommend  to  you  as  much  as  circumstances 
will  permit,  to  make  your  parties  change  their  quarters 
every  night  or  two.  The  deception  arising  from  this 
measure  will  embarrass  the  enemy,  and  by  making  it  diffi- 

*  William  Alexander,  called  Lord  Stirling,  by  courtesy.  He  served  in  the 
war  of  1756,  and  claimed  the  earldom  of  Stirling,  but  was  unsuccessful.  He 
was  appointed  from  New  Jersey,  where  he  had  exerted  an  important  influence 
in  the  movements  to  Independence. 


^Kv.  20.]  HAMILTON.  181 

cult  for  them  to  find  you  out,  will  enable  you  not  only  to 
disappoint  them  in  their  project,  but  perhaps  make  the 
intended  surprise  react  upon  them,  and  derive  advantages 
from  it  to  ourselves.  In  order  to  this,  it  will  be  proper 
to  have  scouts  or  spies  continually  near  their  quarters  to 
give  the  earliest  notice  of  any  movement  of  the  kind. 

"  I  have  been  likewise  informed  that  they  have  spies  at 
our  several  posts.  I  must  beg  you  will  exert  yourself  to 
detect  them,  and  prevent  the  evil  effects  that  must  attend 
their  being  among  us.  To  have  your  artillery  in  order  for 
every  casualty  that  may  happen,  it  will  be  highly  neces- 
sary to  have  them  immediately  and  frequently  put  into  a 
condition  for  marching ;  to  see  that  the  number  of  horses 
is  completed,  the  tackling,  waggons  and  carriages,  suffi- 
cient and  sound,  and  every  thing  else  in  proper  order." 

"This  advance  of  the  enemy,"  Hamilton  wrote  the 
convention  of  New  York,  "it  is  conjectured,  is  with  a 
view  to  the  Delaware,  and  the  supposition  is  confirmed 
by  the  circumstance  of  a  confederacy  lately  detected 
at  Philadelphia,  who,  among  other  things,  were  endeavor- 
ing to  engage  persons  as  pilots  up  that  river. 

"  The  extreme  difficulties  they  must  labor  under  for 
want  of  forage,  and  the  infinite  hazard  they  must  run  by 
moving  with  a  small  body  of  about  five  thousand  men, 
with  an  enemy  in  the  rear,  incapable  of  sparing  any  con- 
siderable body  of  troops  to  form  a  post  behind,  and  be  an 
asylum  to  them  in  case  of  accident ;  these  circumstances 
will  hardly  allow  me  to  think  they  will  be  daring  enough 
to  make  the  attempt  at  this  time.  But  on  the  other  hand, 
as  they  know  we  are  in  a  progressive  state  as  to  numbers, 
and  other  matters  of  importance,  and  as  they  have  no 
prospect  of  early  reinforcements,  and  are  in  a  state  of 
uncertainty  as  to  any,  from  the  bustling  aspect  of  Euro- 
pean affairs,  it  is  possible  they  may  conceive  a  necessity 


THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777 

of  making  a  push  at  all  risks.  Perhaps,  however,  this 
embarkation  is  intended  for  some  other  purpose  ;  to  make 
a  diversion,  or  execute  some  partisan  exploit  elsewhere. 
On  the  whole,  I  find  it  difficult  to  believe  they  are  yet. 
ready  for  any  capital  operation. 

"  As  to  your  apprehensions  of  an  attempt  up  the  North 
River,  I  imagine  you  may  discard  any  uneasiness  on  that 
score,  although  it  will  be  at  all  times  advisable  to  be  on 
the  watch  against  such  a  contingency.  It  is  almost  re- 
duced to  a  certainty,  that  the  principal  views  of  the  ene- 
my, in  the  ensuing  "campaign,  will  be  directed  towards  the 
southward,  and  to  Philadelphia  more  immediately ;  of 
which  idea,  the  discovery  before  mentioned,  with  respect 
to  pilots,  is  no  inconsiderable  confirmation.  Philadelphia 
is  an  object  calculated  to  strike  and  attract  their  attention. 
It  has  all  along  been  the  main  source  of  supplies  towards 
the  war,  and  the  getting  it  into  their  possession  would  de- 
prive us  of  a  wheel  we  could  very  badly  spare,  in  the 
great  political  and  military  machine.  They  are  sensible 
of  this,  and  are  equally  sensible,  that  it  contains  in  itself, 
and  is  surrounded  by  a  prodigious  number  of  persons  at- 
tached to  them,  and  inimical  to  us,  who  would  lend  them 
all  the  assistance  they  could  in  the  further  prosecution  of 
their  designs.  It  is  also  a  common  and  well-grounded 
rule  in  war,  to  strike  first  and  principally  at  the  capital 
towns  and  cities,  in  order  to  the  conquest  of  a  country. 

"  I  must  confess  I  do  not  see  any  object  equally  inter- 
esting to  draw  their  efforts  to  the  northward.  Operations 
merely  for  plundering  and  devastation  can  never  answer 
their  end ;  and  if  they  could,  one  part  of  the  continent 
would  do  nearly  as  well  as  another.  And  as  to  the  notion 
of  forming  a  junction  with  the  northern  army,  and  cut- 
ting off  the  communication  between  the  Northern  and 
Southern  States,  I  apprehend  it  will  do  better  in  specula- 


^£T.  20.]  HAMILTON.  183 

tion  than  in  practice.  Unless  the  geography  of  the  coun- 
try is  far  different  from  any  thing  I  can  conceive,  to  effect 
this  would  require  a  chain  of  posts,  and  such  a  number  of 
men  at  each,  as  would  never  be  practicable  or  maintain- 
able, but  to  an  immense  army.  In  their  progress,  by 
hanging  upon  their  rear,  and  seizing  every  opportunity  of 
skirmishing,  their  situation  might  be  rendered  insupporta- 
bly  uneasy. 

"  But  for  fear  of  mistake,  the  general  has  determined  to 
collect  a  considerable  body  of  troops  at  or  about  Peeks- 
kill,  which  will  not  be  drawn  off  till  the  intentions  of  the 
enemy  have  acquired  a  decisive  complexion.  These  will 
be  ready,  according  to  conjunctures,  either  to  proceed 
northerly  or  southerly,  as  may  be  requisite.  Every  pre- 
caution should  be  taken  to  prevent  the  boats  from  being 
destroyed,  by  collecting  them  at  the  first  movement  of  the 
enemy  under  cover  of  one  of  the  forts,  or  into  some 
inlet,  difficult  of  access  and  easily  defensible  with  a  small 
number  of  men.  The  loss  of  them  would  be  an  irrepara- 
ble disadvantage. 

"  The  enemy's  attempt  upon  Peekskili  is  a  demonstra- 
tion of  the  folly  of  having  any  quantity  of  stores  at 
places  so  near  the  water,  and  so  much  exposed  to  a  sud- 
den inroad.  There  should  never  be  more  there  than  suffi- 
cient to  answer  present  demands.  We  have  lost  a  good 
deal  in  this  way  at  different  times,  and  I  hope  experience 
will  at  last  make  us  wiser. 

"  His  excellency  lately  had  a  visit  from  the  Oneida  chief 
and  five  others.  He  managed  them  with  a  good  deal  of 
address,  and  sent  them  away  perfectly  satisfied.  He  per- 
suaded them  to  go  to  Philadelphia,  but  they  declined  it, 
alleging  their  impatience  to  return,  and  remove  the  erro- 
neous opinions  of  their  countrymen,  from  the  misrepre- 
sentations of  British  emissaries,  which  they  were  appre- 


184:  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

hensive  might  draw  them  into  some  rash  proceedings. 
They  parted,  after  having  made  the  most  solemn  protesta- 
tions of  friendship  and  good  will.  His  excellency  has 
been  very  busy  all  day  in  despatching  the  southern  post, 
which  has  prevented  me  giving  him  your  resolve.  It  will, 
no  doubt,  be  very  acceptable ;  and  it  is  with  pleasure  I 
inform  you,  that  the  zeal  and  abilities  of  the  New  York 
convention  hold  the  first  rank  in  his  estimation. 

"  No  news  from  France,  save  that  the  Congress  have 
obtained  a  credit  there,  for  which  they  can  draw  bills  to 
the  amount  of  £100,000  sterling.  This  will  be  extremely 
serviceable  in  carrying  on  a  trade  with  the  French.  The 
new  troops  begin  to  come  in.  If  we  can  shortly  get  any 
considerable  accession  of  strength,  we  may  be  able  to 
strike  some  brilliant  stroke." 

A  few  days  after  he  again  wrote  :  "  By  several  per- 
sons who  have  come  out  of  New  York  within  these  few 
days,  it  is  pretty  well  confirmed  that  they  have  con- 
structed a  bridge  to  be  laid  upon  boats,  for  the  purpose,  in 
all  probability,  of  crossing  the  Delaware. 

"The  new  levies  begin  to  come  in  from  the  southward, 
but  not  in  such  large  numbers  as  could  be  wished.  It  is 
to  be  hoped,  however,  that  we  shall  shortly  be  sufficiently 
reinforced  to  give  an  effectual  obstruction  to  their  de- 
signs. 

The  Congress  have  resolved,  if  the  general  approves,  to 
form  a  cii,np  on  the  west  side  of  the  Delaware,  and  have 
called  upon  Pennsylvania  to  furnish  three  thousand  militia 
to  join  the  same.  Every  nerve  must  and  will  be  strained 
to  prevent  Philadelphia  falling  into  the  enemy's  hands. 
It  is  a  place  of  infinite  importance." 

On  the  seventeenth  of  April  he  again  addressed  the 
committee,  giving  a  particular  account  of  an  attack  at 
Boundbrook  upon  the  troops  under  General  Lincoln ;  in- 


^Ex.  20.]  HAMILTON.  185 

forming  them  that  three  of  the  enemy's  vessels  had  en- 
tered the  Delaware  ;  that  a  vessel  from  France  had  been 
attacked  in  the  river,  and  to  prevent  her  falling  into  their 
hands,  had  been  blown  up. 

A  letter  of  the  same  date  from  a  member  of  Con- 
gress* in  Philadelphia  depicts  the  state  of  feeling  there  at 
this  time.  "  I  am  extremely  sorry  to  inform  you,  that 
notwithstanding  the  invasion  which  threatens  this  city,  a 
languor  prevails  amongst  the  inhabitants  of  almost  all 
ranks.  The  disputes  about  their  constitution  and  a  want 
of  vigilance  and  vigor  in  detecting  and  defeating  the  de- 
signs of  the  disaffected,  have  given  the  malignants  a  dan- 
gerous ascendency.  The  depreciation  of  the  continental 
money  is  astonishingly  rapid,  and  I  see,  with  concern, 
that  no  attempts  are  made  to  check  so  fatal  a  measure. 
You  will  see  by  the  enclosed  resolutions  of  Congress  of 
the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  of  April,  that  they  have  been 
under  the  necessity  of  supplying  an  executive  authority  in 
this  State. 

"  By  the  recess  of  the  supreme  executive  council,  there 
was  an  absolute  interregnum  ;  and  if  Congress  had  not 
interposed,  this  State  would  have  fallen  an  easy  prey  to  a 
very  small  body  of  the  enemy's  army.  I  have  the  pleas- 
ure to  assure  the  convention,  that  the  State  of  New  York 
stands  in  a  very  high  point  of  light  in  the  eyes  of  the  con- 
tinent, and  that  General  Washington,  in  his  public  letters 
to  Congress,  gives  the  most  honorable  testimonials  in  its 
favor.  These,  sir,  are  the  happy  effects  of  its  unanimity 
and  vigor."  He  adds :  "  The  disputes  in  Pennsylvania 
grew  out  of  no  want  of  attachment  to  the  cause,  but  from 
disputes  about  the  constitution.  I  wish  the  establishment 
of  new  forms  of  government  had  been  deferred.  The 
union,  vigor  and  security,  derived  from  conventions  and 

*  William  Ducr  to  Abraham  Ten  Broeck. 


186  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

committees  are  not  to  be  found  in  any  State  under  it* 
new  constitution." 

In  a  private  letter  of  this  period,*  Washington  also 
adverts  to  the  state  of  the  currency.  "  That  Great  Brit- 
ain will  exert  every  nerve  to  carry  her  tyrannical  designs 
into  execution,  I  have  not  the  smallest  doubt — her  very 
existence  as  a  nation  depends  now  upon  her  success,  for 
should  America  rise  triumphant  in  her  struggle  for  inde- 
pendence, she  must  fall.  It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at, 
therefore,  after  she  has  departed  from  that  line  of  justice 
which  ought  to  characterize  a  virtuous  people,  that  she 
should  descend  to  such  low  arts  and  dirty  tricks  as  will 
for  ever  remain  a  reproach  to  her ;  none  of  which  has  she 
practised  with  more  success,  and,  I  fear,  with  more  dan- 
gerous consequences  to  our  cause,  than  her  endeavors  to 
depreciate  the  continental  bills  of  credit.  Nothing,  there- 
fore, has  a  greater  claim  to  the  close  attention  of  Con- 
gress than  the  counteraction  of  this  part  of  her  diabolical 
scheme.  Every  thing  depends  upon  it."  Urging  there 
should  be  no  relaxation  in  measures  of  resistance,  he  adds, 
"  I  profess  myself  to  be  of  that  class  who  never  built  san- 
guinely  upon  the  assistance  of  France,  farther  than  her 
winking  at  our  supplies  from  thence  for  the  benefits  de- 
rived from  our  trade,  and  how  far  the  measures  and  offers 
of  Great  Britain  may  contravene  this,  time  only  can  dis- 
cover, and  is  somewhat  to  be  feared." 

The  constitution  of  New  York,  recently  established  f 
by  the  convention  of  that  Stale,  was  made  public  at  this 
(ime.  Hamilton's  attention  was  called  to  it  in  a  letter 
from  Gouverneur  Morris,  a  member  of  the  body. 

Looking  to  the  recent  proceedings  as  to  Pennsylvania 
and  to  this  act,  there  is  presented  to  the  view  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  scenes  in  the  drama  of  the  American 

*  Washington  to  R.  H.  Lee. — Lee's  Memoir,  ii.  p.  12.         f  April  20,  1777. 


yE-r.  20.]  HAMILTON.  187 

revolution.  At  the  same  moment,  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  by  their  assumed  unlimited  power,  unhesi- 
tatingly submitted  to,  are  seen  instituting  an  executive 
authority  in  a  State  ;  and  the  other  States  are  beheld,  in 
the  midst  of  a  war  for  their  existence,  forming  strictly 
limited  governments,  in  all  of  which  were  provisions  to 
hold  the  general  Congress  under  their  absolute  control. 
At  the  same  moment,  this  Congress  are  seen  conferring 
upon  a  military  chief  of  their  own  creation,  dictatorial 
powers,  and  the  separate  States  are  beheld  tenaciously 
reserving  to  themselves  the  appointment  of  the  officers  to 
execute  the  commands  of  that  chief. 

The  former  were  acts  of  high  necessity,'  expressly 
avowed  to  have  been  done  to  provide  "  for  the  general 
welfare  of  the  United  States."  The  latter  indicate  the 
pervading  distrust  of  a  general  governing  power  conse- 
quent to  abuses  by  a  sovereign  they  had  rejected,  and 
were  resisting. 

Magna  Charta  and  the  succeeding  guards  to  liberty 
established  by  the  wisdom  of  England,  formed  the  basis 
of  these  State  constitutions.  But  their  structure  shows 
the  quick  vibration  from  confiding  devotion  to  a  monarch, 
to  the  jealous  caution  of  democracy.  Contests  with  the 
representatives  of  the  monarch  had  prepared  the  colo- 
nists, in  a  measure,  for  self-government ;  and  had  taught 
them  that  safety  would  only  be  found  in  a  government  by 
representatives  of  the  people.  Thus,  representative  de- 
mocracies were  the  natural  fruits  of  the  revolution ;  and 
in  organizing  them,  the  prevailing  effort  would  be  to  ren- 
der the  executive  authority,  dependent,  feeble,  of  short 
duration. 

The  first  government  instituted  under  a  recommenda 
tion  of  Congress  was  that  of  New  Hampshire  in  January, 
seventy-six. 


1S8  THE   REPUBLIC.  [177T 

A  letter  from  General  Sullivan,  who  had  been  con- 
sulted as  to  the  form  to  be  established,  shows  the  state  of 
public  opinion.  "  I  can  by  no  means  consent  to  lodge  too 
much  power  in  the  hands  of  one  person,  or  suffering  an 
interest  in  government  to  exist  separate  from  that  of  the 
people,  or  any  man  to  hold  office  for  the  execution  of 
which  he  is  not,  in  some  way  or  other,  answerable  to  that 
people  to  whom  he  owes  his  political  existence." 

The  course  of  New  Hampshire  showed  the  extent  of 
this  feeling.  Its  constitution  did  not  provide  a  governor. 
A  House  of  Representatives,  elected  annually  by  the  towns, 
chose  a  council  of  twelve  persons,  who  chose  a  presiding 
officer.  This  officer,  called  the  "  President  of  the  Coun- 
cil," performed  the  undefined  duties  of  a  governor,  and 
was,  at  the  same  time,  appointed  judge  of  the  superior 
court.  This  imperfect  scheme  existed  until  near  the  end 
of  the  revolution. 

In  March,  the  Provincial  Congress  of  South  Carolina 
organized  themselves  as  a  general  assembly  of  the  colo- 
ny, framing  a  constitution.  This  assembly  was  author- 
ized to  elect  by  ballot  from  its  own  body  a  legislative 
council,  and  these  jointly  were  to  choose  a  president  and 
a  privy  council  by  ballot.  This  temporary  constitution 
gave  place  soon  after  to  another,  by  which  a  rotation  in 
office  was  secured,  and  more  popular  elements  introduced. 

In  New  Jersey,  a  legislature  of  two  branches  was  also 
elected  annually,  and  they  chose  an  annual  governor.  In 
Virginia,  one  branch  of  the  legislature  and  the  governor 
•were  annually  chosen,  the  latter  by  the  legislature,  who 
was  only  re-eligible  for  three  successive  years,  and  was 
controlled  by  a  council  chosen  by  joint  ballot  of  the 
legislature,  whose  term  of  office  was  of  several  years. 
His  powers  were  few,  his  patronage  small.  Maryland 
also  chose  her  governor  annually  by  her  legislature  of 


yET.  20.]  HAMILTON.  ISO 

two  branches,  who  was  likewise  controlled  by  a  council 
elected  annually  by  the  same  body.  He  also  was  re-eli- 
gible for  only  three  consecutive  years :  his  powers  very 
limited  and  guarded.  The  constitutions  of  Delaware  and 
jNorth  Carolina  were  in  these  respects  similar.  All  these 
frames  of  government  were  made  in  the  course  of  the 
year  seventy-six.  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  re- 
mained, under  their  charter  systems  a  little  modified,  of  a 
very  popular  cast,  and  in  part  models  of  those  recently 
instituted. 

The  constitution  of  New  York,  at  this  moment  com- 
pleted, established  a  legislature  of  two  branches,  the  sen- 
ate, like  that  of  Virginia  and  of  Maryland,  being  of  longer 
duration  than  the  other  branch,  and  changed  successively 
by  rotation ;  chosen,  as  was  the  governor,  by  freeholders 

His  term  of  office  was  three  years,  and  his  powers 
were  larger  than  those  conferred  by  the  other  States. 
Here  his  patronage,  power  and  responsibility  were  sought 
to  be  checked  by  councils,  one  exercising  conjointly  with 
him,  the  power  of  revising  and  rejecting  the  acts  of  legis- 
lation, the  other  that  of  appointments. 

This  plan  of  government  was  believed  to  be  chiefly 
the  production  of  Jay,  to  whom  Rutledge  of  South  Caro- 
lina wrote  :  "  Vest  the  executive  powers  of  government 
in  an  individual,  that  they  may  have  vigor,  and  let  them 
be  as  ample  as  is  consistent  with  the  great  outlines  of 
freedom." 

The  larger  executive  powers  conferred  by  it  was  the 
result  of  obvious  causes.  The  seaboard  of  the  State  was 
at  this  moment  in  possession  of  the  enemy,  its  interior 
frontier  was  menaced  by  them,  many  of  its  inhabitants 
were  disaffected.  Its  safety  demanded  a  prompt  exertion 
of  all  its  resources,  to  which  it  had  been  habituated  during 
its  colonial  existence.  "Our  constitution,"  Jay  writes, 


190  THE   KEPUBLIC.  [1777 

"  is  universally  approved,  even  in  New  England,  where 
few  New  York  productions  have  credit." 

Hamilton's  views  of  it  are  given  in  his  letters  to  Gou- 
verneur  Morris. 

"  I  thank  you  for  the  favor  of  the  pamphlet  containing 
your  form  of  government,  which,  without  flattery,  I  con- 
sider as  far  more  judicious  and  digested  than  any  thing  of 
the  kind  that  has  yet  appeared  among  us ;  though  1  am 
not  so  unreserved  in  my  approbation  as  to  think  it  free 
from  defects.  While  I  view  it  in  the  main  as  a  wise  and 
excellent  system,  I  freely  confess  it  appears  to  me  to  have 
some  faults  which  I  could  wish  did  not  exist.  Were  it 
not  too  late  to  discuss  particulars  for  any  useful  end,  or 
could  my  judgment  have  any  weight  in  a  matter  which  is 
the  work  of  so  many  far  more  able  and  discerning  than  I 
can  pretend  to  be,  I  should  willingly  descend  to  an  exhi- 
bition of  those  parts  I  dislike,  and  my  reasons  for  disap- 
proving. But,  in  the  present  situation  of  things,  it  would 
be  both  useless  and  presumptuous." 

Morris  answered,  "  I  am  very  happy  to  find  that  our 
form  of  government  meets  with  your  approbation.  That 
there  are  faults  in  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  for  it  is 
the  work  of  men,  and  of  men,  perhaps,  not  the  best  quali- 
fied for  such  undertakings.  I  think  it  deficient  for  want 
of  vigor  in  the  executive  ;  unstable,  from  the  very  nature 
of  popular  elective  governments ;  and  dilatory,  from  the 
complexity  of  the  legislature. 

"  For  the  first,  I  apologize  by  hinting  the  spirit  which 
now  reigns  in  America,  suspiciously  cautious.  For  the 
second,  because  unavoidable.  For  the  third,  because  a 
simple  legislature  soon  possesses  itself  of  too  much  power 
for  the  safety  of  its  subjects.  God  grant  it  may  work 
well,  for  we  must  live  under  it." 

Hamilton  answered :  "  I  partly  agree  and  partly  disa- 


JET.  20.J  HAMILTON.  191 

gree  with  you  respecting  the  deficiencies  of  our  constitu- 
tion. That  there  is  a  want  of  vigor  in  the  executive,  I 
believe  will  be  found  true.  To  determine  the  qualifica- 
tions proper  for  the  chief  executive  magistrate  requires 
the  deliberate  wisdom  of  a  select  assembly,  and  cannot 
safely  be  lodged  with  the  people  at  large.  That  insta- 
bility is  inherent  in  the  nature  of  popular  governments,  I 
think  very  disputable ;  unstable  democracy  is  an  epithet 
frequently  in  the  mouths  of  politicians  ;  but  I  believe  that, 
from  a  strict  examination  of  the  matter — from  the  records 
of  history,  it  will  be  found  that  the  fluctuations  of  govern- 
ments in  which  the  popular  principle  has  borne  a  consid- 
erable sway,  have  proceeded  from  its  being  compounded 
with  other  principles ;  and  from  its  being  made  to  operate 
in  an  improper  channel.  Compound  governments,  though 
they  may  be  harmonious  in  the  beginning,  will  introduce 
distinct  interests,  and  these  interests  will  clash,  throw  the 
State  into  convulsions,  and  produce  a  change  or  dissolu- 
tion. When  the  deliberative  or  judicial  powers  are  vested 
wholly  or  partly  in  the  collective  body  of  the  people, 
you  must  expect  error,  confusion  and  instability.  But  a 
REPRESENTATIVE  DEMOCRACY,  where  the  right  of  election 
is  well  secured  and  regulated,  and  the  exercise  of  the 
legislative,  executive,  and  judiciary  authorities  is  vested  in 
select  persons,  chosen  really  and  not  nominally  by  the 
people  will,  in  my  opinion,  be  most  likely  to  be  happy, 
regular  and  durable.  That  the  complexity  of  your 
legislature  will  occasion  delay  and  dilatoriness  is  evident, 
and  I  fear  may  be  attended  with  a  much  greater  evil ;  as 
expedition  is  not  very  material  in  making  la\tfs,  espe- 
cially when  the  government  is  well  digested  and  ma- 
tured by  time.  The  evil,  I  mean,  is,  that  in  time  your 
Senate,  from  the  very  name,  and  from  th<;  mere  circum- 
stance of  its  being  a  separate  member  of  the  legislature, 


192  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

will  be  liable  to  degenerate  into  a  body  purely  aristo- 
cratical. 

And  I  think  the  abuse  of  power  from  a  simple  legisla- 
ture would  not  be  very  great  in  a  government  where  the 
equality  and  fulness  of  popular  representation  is  so  wisely 
provided  for  as  in  yours.  On  the  whole,  though  I  think 
these  are  the  defects  intimated,  I  think  your  government 
far  the  best  that  we  have  yet  seen,  and  capable  of  giving 
long  and  substantial  happiness  to  the  people.  Objec- 
tions should  be  suggested  with  great  caution  and  re- 
serve." 

The  qualified  opinion  here  expressed  of  the  durability 
of  representative  democracies  is  not  without  color  of  au- 
thority.* 

The  distrust  of  a  Senate,  as  verging  towards  aristo- 
cracy, was  the  transient  emotion  of  a  youthful  mind,  to 
which  the  vista  of  human  happiness  in  modern  institutions 
was  opening  in  all  its  beauty  and  grandeur.  It  soon  gave 
place  to  wiser  views. 

The  efforts  of  the  disaffected  Americans  were  now  a 
source  of  serious  alarm.  In  New  York  the  enemy  had 
formed  bodies  of  troops  composed  of  them  and  of  British 
and  Irish  refugees  under  the  command  of  men  driven 
from  their  colonial  stations  ;  and  with  embittered  feelings, 
eager  to  wage  unrelenting  hostilities  upon  those  they  had 
recently  governed.  Of  these  was  Tryon,  with  the  rank 
of  major-general,  conspicuous  in  the  recent  incendiary  in- 
roads upon  Connecticut.  Hamilton,  sensible  of  the  great 
importance  of  marking  the  true  line  of  policy  to  be 
adopted  as  to  so  delicate  and  difficult  a  matter,  now  wrote 
to  the  convention  of  New  York,  deprecating  the  substitu- 
tion of  tyranny  for  discriminating  energy.  "  The  dispo- 
sition of  the  convention,  with  respect  to  the  disaffected 

*  Montesquieu's  Esprit  des  Loix.     "  Republiquo  Federative,"  i.  391. 


Mr.  20.]  HAMILTON.  193 

among  you,  is  highly  commendable,  and  justified  by  everv 
principle  of  equity  and  policy.  The  necessity  of  exem- 
plary punishment  throughout  the  States,  is  become  evi- 
dent beyond  a  doubt,  and  it  were  to  be  wished  every  one 
of  the  thirteen  would  imitate  the  judicious  conduct  of 
New  York.  Lenity  and  forbearance  have  been  tried  too 
long  to  no  purpose  ;  it  is  high  time  to  discard  what  the 
clearest  experience  has  shown  to  be  ineffectual. 

"  But  in  dispensing  punishment,  the  utmost  care  and 
caution  ought  to  be  used.  The  power  of  doing  it,  or 
even  of  bringing  the  guilty  to  trial,  should  be  placed  in 
hands  that  know  well  how  to  use  it.  I  believe  it  would 
be  a  prudent  rule  to  meddle  with  none  but  those  whose 
crimes  are  supported  by  very  sufficient  evidence,  and  arc 
of  a  pretty  deep  dye.  The  apprehending  innocent  per- 
sons, or  those  whose  offences  are  of  so  slender  a  nature  as 
to  make  it  prudent  to  dismiss  them,  furnishes  an  occasion  of 
triumph,  and  a  foundation  for  a  species  of  animadversion 
which  is  very  injurious  to  the  public  cause.  Persons  so 
apprehended  generally  return  home  worse  than  they 
were,  and  by  expatiating  on  their  sufferings,  first  excite 
the  pity  towards  themselves  and  afterwards  the  abhor- 
rence towards  their  persecutors,  of  those  with  whom  they 
converse.  I  believe  it  would  also  be,  in  general,  a  good 
rule,  either  to  pardon  offenders  entirely,  or  to  inflict  capi- 
tal and  severe  punishments.  The  advice  given  by  a  cer- 
tain general  to  his  son,  when  the  latter  had  the  Roman 
army  in  his  power,  was  certainly  very  politic  ;  he  advised 
him  either  to  destroy  them  utterly,  or  to  dismiss  them 
with  every  mark  of  honor  and  respect.  By  the  first 
method,  says  he,  you  disable  the  Romans  from  being  your 
enemies ;  by  the  last,  you  make  them  your  friends.  So 
with  respect  to  the  tories  ;  I  would  either  disable  them 
from  doing  us  any  injury,  or  I  would  endeavor  to  gain 
VOL.  L— 13 


194  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

their  friendship  by  clemency.  Inflicting  trifling  punish- 
ments only  embitters  the  minds  of  those  on  whom  they 
fall,  and  increases  their  disposition  to  do  mischief  without 
taking  away  the  power  of  doing  it. 

"  I  shall  communicate  your  additional  resolve  to  the 
general,  and  consult  him  on  what  you  mention,  and  shall 
let  you  know  his  opinion  in  my  next ;  mine,  however,  is, 
that  those  who  appear  to  be  of  such  a  character  as  to  be 
susceptible  of  reformation,  should  be  employed  ;  but  it  is 
a  delicate  point. 

"  As  to  news,  the  most  material  is,  that  from  intelligence 
received  from  Rhode  Island,  it  appears  the  enemy  are 
abandoning  it.  This  is  a  preparatory  step  to  the  intended 
operations  of  the  enemy. 

"  In  a  private  letter  from  Philadelphia,  I  am  informed 
that  a  treaty  of  a  very  particular  nature  is  on  the  point 
of  being  concluded  between  the  court  of  France  and  the 
States  of  America.  There  is  a  prospect  of  opening  a 
trade  with  Sweden." 

The  same  spirit  is  seen  in  a  letter  written  by  Hamilton 
to  Governor  Livingston : 

"  A  number  of  disaffected  persons  having  been  taken 
up  and  brought  to  his  Excellency,  he  has  ordered  an  ex- 
amination into  their  cases  to  know  who  of  them  were  sub- 
ject to  a  military  jurisdiction,  and  who  came  properly 
under  the  cognizance  of  the  civil  power  ;  also  to  discrimi- 
nate those  who  were  innocent  or  guilty  of  trivial  offences 
from  those  whose  crimes  were  of  a  more  capital  and 
heinous  nature,  directing  that  those  of  the  former  char- 
acter should  be  dismissed,  and  those  of  the  latter  referred 
to  you  for  further  trial  and  punishment.  The  examina 
tion,  at  which  I  was  present,  has  been  accordingly  made, 
and  the  enclosed  list  of  names  will  inform  you  of  those 
who  have  been  deemed  proper  subjects  for  a  legal  prose- 


^Er.  20.]  HAMILTON.  195 

cution ;  and  who  are  herewith  sent  under  guard  to  be 
disposed  of  as  you  shall  direct.  I  have  transmitted  you  a 
bundle  of  papers,  in  which  you  will  find  the  information 
and  evidence  that  support  the  charges  against  them,  and 
the  confession  they  made  in  the  court  of  inquiry.  Many 
of  them  have  nothing  against  them  but  what  is  to  be 
found  in  their  own  acknowledgments.  How  far  these 
may  operate  in  fixing  their  guilt  you  can  best  determine. 
Several  of  them  have  been  taken  in  arms,  and  others 
were  beyond  a  doubt  employed  in  enlisting  men  for  the 
service  of  the  enemy.  You  will  readily  concur  with  his 
Excellency  in  the  obvious  necessity  of  inflicting  exemplary 
punishment  on  such  daring  offenders,  to  repress  that  inso- 
lent spirit  of  open  and  avowed  enmity  to  the  American 
cause,  which,  unhappily,  is  too  prevalent  in  this  and  some 
of  the  States." 

"  The  examination,"  he  also  writes,  "  in  this  instance  is 
somewhat  irregular  and  out  of  the  common  order  of 
fhings.  But  in  the  present  unsettled  state  of  government, 
the  distinction  between  the  civil  and  military  powers  can- 
not be  upheld  with  that  exactness  which  every  friend 
to  society  must  wish.  His  Excellency  desires  to  avoid 
nothing  more,  I  flatter  myself  you  will  believe  me,  than 
deviations  from  the  strict  rules  of  propriety  in  this  re- 
spect, or  the  least  encroachments  either  upon  the  rights  of 
the  citizen  or  of  the  magistrate.  It  was  necessary  to 
make  inquiry  for  the  sake  of  the  discrimination  before 
mentioned,  and  tenderness  to  the  innocent  to  save  them 
from  long  and  unmerited  confinement,  commended  the 
measure." 

A  few  days  after,  he  again  wrote :  "  A  spirit  of  disaf- 
fection shows  itself  with  so  much  boldness  and  violence 
in  different  parts  of  this  State,  that  it  is  the  ardent  wish 
of  his  Excellency,  no  delay  which  can  be  avoided  might 


196  THE  REPUBLIC.  [1777 

be  used  in  making  examples  of  some  most  atrocious  of- 
fenders. If  something  be  not  speedily  done,  to  strike  a 
terror  into  the  disaffected,  the  consequences  must  be  very 
disagreeable.  Among  others,  all  security  to  the  friends 
of  the  American  cause  will  be  destroyed  ;  and  the  natural 
effect  of  this  will  be  an  extinction  of  zeal  in  seconding 
and  promoting  it.  Their  attachment,  if  it  remain,  will  be 
a  dead,  inactive,  useless  principle.  And  the  disaffected, 
emboldened  by  impunity,  will  be  encouraged  to  proceed 
to  the  most  dangerous  and  pernicious  lengths."  Soon 
after  he  wrote  in  behalf  of  Washington  to  Congress : 
"  In  this  State  "  (New  Jersey),  "  I  have  strong  assurance 
that  the  spirit  of  disaffection  has  risen  to  a  great  height ; 
and  I  shall  not  be  disappointed,  if  a  large  number  of  the 
inhabitants  in  some  of  the  counties  should  openly  appear 
in  arms,  as  soon  as  the  enemy  begin  their  operations.  I 
have  taken  every  measure  in  my  power  to  suppress  it,  but 
nevertheless,  several  from  Jersey  and  Bergen  have  joined 
their  army,  and  the  spirit  becomes  more  and  more  daring 
every  day."  The  correspondence  as  to  the  exchange  oi 
prisoners  having  been  resumed  by  General  Howe,  his  let- 
ter was  enclosed  to  Congress,  with  a  comment  in  behalf 
of  Washington  by  Hamilton. 

"  As  General  Howe  has  called  upon  me  again  for  my 
final  decision  upon  the  subject,  and  Congress  are  folly 
possessed  of  it,  having  received  transcripts  of  every  paper 
respecting  it,  I  wish  them  to  take  the  matter  under  their 
earliest  consideration,  and  to  inform  me  as  soon  as  they 
can,  whether  the  grounds  on  which  it  has  been  conducted 
by  me,  are  agreeable  to  their  ideas,  and  whether  my  ob- 
jections are  or  are  not  to  be  departed  from.  *  *  * 
The  dispute,  so  far  as  General  Lee  is  concerned,  rests  at 
present  on  their  declaring  him  exchangeable,  as  other  pris- 
oners are,  on  the  principle  of  equality  of  rank,  to  ensure 


.£T.  20.]  HAMILTON.  197 

which,  or  his  safety,  Lieutenant-colonel  Campbell  and  the 
Hessian  field  officers  are  detained.  The. other  objection 
to  returning  their  prisoners  is,  that  a  great  proportion  of 
those  sent  out  by  them  were  not  fit  subjects  of  exchange 
when  released,  and  were  made  so  by  the  severity  of  their 
treatment  and  confinement,  and,  therefore,  a  deduction 
should  be  made  from  the  list. 

"  Good  faith  seems  to  require  that  we  should  return  as 
many  of  theirs,  at  least,  as  we  received  effectives  from 
them  ;  I  mean  such  as  could  be  considered  capable  of 
being  exchanged ;  and  perhaps  sound  policy,  that  the 
agreement  subsisting  for  exchanges  would  continue.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  may  be  said,  that  our  prisoners,  in  gen- 
eral, in  the  enemy's  hands  at  present,  will  have  greater 
security  by  our  retaining  them,  and  that  General  Howe 
will  be  less  apt  to  relinquish  any  part  of  his  claim  the 
more  the  number  in  our  hands  is  diminished  by  an  ex- 
change. 

"  I  confess  I  am  under  great  difficulty  in  this  business. 
But  what  is  more  particularly  the  cause  of  this  applica- 
tion, is  the  latter  part  of  the  first  paragraph  of  the  en- 
closed copy  .  '  and  for  your  determination  respecting  the 
prisoners  now  here,  that  I  may  make  my  arrangements 
accordingly.''  This  is  couched  in  terms  of  great  ambigu- 
ity ;  and  I  am  really  at  a  loss  what  interpretation  to  give 
it ;  whether  he  intends  that  his  conduct  respecting  them 
shall  be  as  I  advise  (this  appears  more  favorable  than  can 
well  be  expected),  or  that,  if  the  previous  demand  is  not 
answered  in  a  satisfactory  manner,  he  shall  consider  them 
on  a  different  footing  from  that  on  which  our  former  pris- 
oners were,  and  the  agreement  totally  dissolved.  We  are 
told  Government  offered  the  prisoners  they  took  to  the 
India  Company,  and  they  have  procured  an  act  dispensing 
with  that  of  the  habeas  corpus  in  particular  cases  of  per- 


198  THE   KEPUBLIC.  [1777. 

sons  supposed  inimical  to  them.  How  far  they  or  their 
commanders  may  adopt  these  measures,  remains  to  be 
known.  I  have  only  mentioned  them  as  respects  the 
general  subject  of  my  letter. 

"  Notwithstanding  my  recommendation,  agreeably  to 
what  I  conceived  to  be  the  sense  of  Congress,  Lieutenant- 
colonel  Campbell's  treatment  continues  to  be  such  as  can- 
not be  justified  either  on  the  principles  of  generosity  or 
strict  retaliation ;  as  I  have  authentic  information,  and  I 
doubt  not  you  will  have  the  same,  that  General  Lee's  situ- 
ation is  far  from  being  rigorous  or  uncomfortable.  Ex- 
cept his  not  being  permitted  to  go  at  large  on  parole,  he 
has  reason  to  be  content  with  every  other  circumstance 
of  his  treatment." 

General  Lee  had  recently  stated  that  he  had  been 
"  treated  in  all  respects  with  kindness,  generosity,  and  ten- 
derness." 

On  being  apprised  of  this,  Congress  resolved  that 
similar  conduct  be  observed  towards  Campbell  and  the 
Hessian  officers. 

Four  days  after  the  date  of  this  letter,  "  the  enemy," 
as  Hamilton  states,  "  perpetrated  a  most  barbarous  butch- 
ery upon  a  Lieutenant  Martin  of  ours.  He  was  out  with 
a  scouting  party,  and  met  some  of  the  British  light-horse  ; 
his  men,  it  is  said,  quitted  him.  But  however  other  mat- 
ters may  be,  it  is  certain  his  dead  body  was  found  most 
horribly  mangled.  He  had  not  a  single  bullet-wound,  but 
was  hacked  to  pieces  with  the  sword  ;  he  had  several  cuts 
on  his  head,  each  of  which  was  sufficient  to  despatch  him, 
besides  a  number  of  more  inconsiderable  scars  about  his 
body  and  hands.  It  is  evident  that  the  most  wanton  and 
unnecessary  cruelty  must  have  been  used  towards  him  ; 
for  the  greater  part  of  his  wounds  must  have  been  given 
him  when  utterly  out  of  a  condition  to  resist.  This  may 


>ET.  20.]  HAMILTON.  199 

be  relied  on  as  a  fact,  for  I  saw  his  corpse,  as  did  also 
every  officer  and  soldier  in  camp  that  chose  it.  The  gen- 
eral sent  him  down  to  their  lines  with  a  letter  to  Lord 
Cornwallis,  as  an  undeniable  evidence  of  their  brutality, 
but  the  letter  was  taken  from  the  flag  and  sent  in ;  the 
flag  and  the  body  not  permitted  to  pass  their  outposts." 
It  *  was  brought  to  the  post  of  Sir  George  Osborne,  who 
with  much  admired  sang  froid,  simply  returned  for  an- 
swer, "  that  he  was  no  coroner." 

The  letter,  written  by  Hamilton  for  Washington,  was 
in  these  terms :  "  It  is  with  infinite  regret  I  am  again 
compelled  to  remonstrate  against  that  spirit  of  wanton 
cruelty  that  has  in  several  instances  influenced  the  con- 
duct of  your  soldiery.  A  recent  exercise  of  it  towards 
an  unhappy  officer  of  ours,  Lieutenant  Martin,  convinces 
me  that  my  former  representations  on  this  subject  have 
been  unavailing.  That  gentleman,  by  the  fortune  of  war, 
on  Saturday  last,  was  thrown  into  the  hands  of  a  party 
of  your  horse,  and  unnecessarily  murdered  with  the  most 
aggravated  circumstances  of  barbarity.  I  wish  not  to 
wound  your  lordship's  feelings  by  commenting  on  this 
event ;  but  I  think  it  my  duty  to  send  his  mangled  body 
to  your  lines  as  an  undeniable  testimony  of  the  fact,  should 
it  be  doubted,  and  as  the  best  appeal  to  your  humanity 
for  the  justice  of  our  complaint." 

The  answer  is  not  known,  but  its  character  may  be 
inferred  from  this  reply  in  the  close  of  a  letter,  also  from 
Hamilton's  pen:  "I  cannot  forbear  taking  this  occasion 
to  remark,  that  it  appears  to  me  not  a  little  singular  to 
find  a  gallant  discharge  of  duty  in  an  officer,  assigned  as 
a  reason  for  exercising  the  greatest  barbarity  towards  him. 
I  confess  I  should  imagine  that  the  eye  of  generosity 
would  rather  view  it  as  a  motive  for  applause  and  tender- 

*  Graydon's  Memoirs,  266. 


200  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777 

ness."     "The  fact,"  he  states,  "was  admitted  and  jus- 
tified." 

Howe  at  this  time  pressing  a  final  decision  as  to  the 
exchange  of  prisoners,  Hamilton,  in  behalf  of  Washing- 
ton answered  him  in  full.*  This  letter  is  a  fine  specimen 
of  retaliatory  vindication,  not  a  little  quickened  in  its  tone 
by  this  recent  outrage.  It  closed  with  the  declaration  of 
a  wish  that  the  difference  between  them  should  be  "  ad- 
justed on  a  generous  and  equitable  plan." 

NOTE. 

It  will  be  perceived  that  in  the  course  of  this  History,  when  introducing 
the  letters  written  by  Hamilton  for  Washington,  the  phrases  are  used  "  in 
behalf  of  Washington,"  and  "  in  the  name  of  Washington."  This  language 
became,  immediately  after  the  appearance  of  this  volume,  the  subject  of  much 
inconsiderate  and  indecorous  comment  by  the  public  press.  Of  the  warrant 
for,  and  the  propriety  of,  the  use  of  these  phrases,  a  brief  vindication  will  be 
seen  in  the  Preface  to  the  second  volume  of  this  work.  The  purpose  of  this 
note  is  merely  to  adduce  an  instance  of  an  ascription  of  authorship  in  terms 
similar  to  those  employed  in  this  history,  to  which  no  exception  is  believed 
ever  to  have  been  taken. 

The  letters  written  by  Milton  for  Cromwell  are  thus  described,  both  in  the 
Oxford  edition  of  the  "  Prose  Works  by  John  Milton,"  by  Charles  Symmons, 
and  in  the  Paris  edition. 

"  Literae  Senatus  Anglican! — nee  non  Cromwellii,"  &c. 

"Nomine  ac  jussu  conscriptae." — Letters  of  the  English  Senate,  also  of 
Cromwell,  &c.,  written  "  in  his  name  and  by  his  ardtrr." 

"  June  10.  1777. 


CHAPTER    VIII. 

AMID  the  conflicts  of  opinion  between  Congress  and  the 
State  governments,  its  spasmodic  action,  now  of  energy, 
then  of  weakness,  their  confidence  and  their  fears ;  it  be- 
came obvious,  that  the  success  of  the  struggle  would 
chiefly  depend  on  skill  to  avoid  and  patience  to  endure, 
rather  than  on  power  to  resist  the  aggressions  of  the  ene- 
my. What  direction  their  force  would  take  was  still  un- 
certain. Hamilton  wrote  to  the  convention  of  New 
York,  the  seventh  of  May  :  "  From  some  late  appearances, 
my  opinion  is  greatly  shaken  as  to  the  enemy's  intention 
to  move  to  Philadelphia.  I  begin  to  fear  they  will  disap- 
point us  with  a  contrary  movement.  The  general  is 
aware  of  this  possibility,  and  will  do  every  thing  he  can 
to  provide  for  the  event ;  and  I  trust  the  convention  of 
your  State  will  co-operate  with  him  by  every  exertion  in 
their  power.  By  intelligence  received  yesterday  and  to- 
day, from  Generals  Putnam  and  Lincoln  at  the  outposts, 
we  have  reason  to  suspect  the  enemy  will  soon  evacuate 
Brunswick  and  push  for  Amboy,  whence  they  will  no 
doubt  embark  for  some  expedition  by  water.  This  may 
be  either  to  Philadelphia  or  up  the  North  River.  Or,  per- 
haps, the  appearances  that  indicate  this,  may  be  only 
feints  to  perplex  and  deceive  us.  The  testimony  of 
every  person  that  comes  from  them  confirms  this  fact, 


202  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

that  their  horses  are  in  such  miserable  condition  as  to  ren- 
der them  incapable  of  any  material  operations  by  land. 
If,  therefore,  proper  care  be  taken,  wherever  they  shall 
point  their  efforts,  to  prevent  their  collecting  supplies  cf 
good  horses  among  ourselves,  I  know  not  how  it  will  be 
possible  for  them  to  penetrate  any  distance  into  the  coun- 
try. As  far  as  it  may  depend  upon  them,  I  hope  the 
convention  will  attend  to  this  circumstance,  and  will  take 
effective  measures  to  put  it  out  of  their  power  to  gain  such 
supplies  in  any  part  of  your  State  towards  which  they 
may  direct  their  movements.  Nothing  particular  from 
Europe."  He  soon  again  wrote  :  "  It  seems  now  fully  the 
opinion  of  our  generals  that  the  last  year's  project  for 
uniting  the  two  armies  by  the  conquest  of  your  State  will 
be  prosecuted  this  campaign.  To  confirm  this  supposi- 
tion, all  the  later  intelligence  we  have  received  from  the 
enemy,  strongly  indicates  an  intention  to  evacuate  the 
Jerseys ;  and  it  is  thought  there  will  be  very  great  obsta- 
cles to  an  attempt  upon  Philadelphia  by  way  of  the  Dela- 
ware ;  it  is  concluded  that  the  North  River  must  be  the 
object.  And,  upon  this  principle,  Generals  Greene  and 
Knox,  in  whom  his  Excellency  has  great  confidence,  are 
sent  to  examine  the  situation  of  things  with  you,  and,  in 
concert  with  General  McDougall,  who  is  in  equal  estima- 
tion, to  adopt  every  proper  expedient  for  putting  you  in 
the  best  state  of  defence.  They  set  out  this  day. 

"  If  the  enemy  do  not,  in  fact,  aim  at  Philadelphia, 
they  have  been  very  artful  in  throwing  out  appearances 
well  calculated  to  deceive,  and  which,  though  they  have 
not  had  so  full  an  effect  as  at  any  time  to  cause  our  cau- 
tious general  to  lose  sight  of  the  other  object  which  it  is 
now  imagined  they  propose  to  themselves ;  yet  they  have 
so  far  deceived  as  to  beget  pretty  universally  the  opinion 
they  wished  to  impose.  But,  for  rny  own  part,  though  1 


/ET.  20.]  II  A  M I  L  T  O  X .  203 

am  staggered  in  my  conjectures,  yet  I  by  no  means  give 
up  my  first  supposition.  I  think  it  very  probable  they  are 
only  evacuating  the  Jerseys  to  be  out  of  danger  of  an  at- 
tack from  us,  which  they  have  reason  to  fear  from  the 
increasing  strength  of  our  army,  and  mean  to  encamp  on 
Staten  Island  till  reinforced.  It  would  be  madness  in 
them,  weak  as  they  are  in  numbers,  to  risk  all  in  any  capi- 
tal attempt ;  and  I  am  confident  they  will  not  do  it  unless 
they  have  a  desperate  game  to  play,  and  have  no  expec- 
tation of  reinforcements.  Such  a  conduct  would  be  con- 
trary to  every  principle  of  war  or  policy.  Howe  cannot 
take  the  field  with  more  than  eight  thousand  men  ;  let  him 
go  where  he  will,  the  probability  of  a  defeat  will  be 
strong,  the  consequences  of  it  would  be  absolutely  fatal. 
How  can  he  hope  to  penetrate  far  with  so  small  a  force, 
and  with  such  a  miserable  supply  of  horses  to  convey  his 
artillery  and  baggage  ?  It  seems  to  me,  too,  with  respect 
to  the  supposed  design  upon  your  State,  if  it  really  exist- 
ed, they  would  have  taken  care  to  have  seized  your  forts, 
and  other  important  posts,  when  they  might  have  been 
apprised  you  were  in  no  condition  to  defend  them. 

"  We  have  lately  had  one  or  two  little  skirmishes  here. 
A  party  from  Boundbrook  beat  up  some  of  the  enemy's 
advanced  pickets  from  Brunswick.  An  attack  was  made 
upon  their  pickets  near  Bonumtown.  We  have  no  regu- 
lar account  of  this  matter,  but  what  we  have  is  to  this 
purport :  '  that  a  party  under  Col.  Cook  attacked  one  of 
their  pickets  and  drove  it  in ;  that  it  was  reinforced  and 
sallied  out  again,  and  was  beaten  in  a  second  time  ;  that  it 
received  a  second  reinforcement  and  made  a  second  sally  ; 
and  that  General  Maxwell,  who  conducted  the  affair,  per- 
ceiving the  latter  grow  too  serious  hy  continual  succors 
coming  to  them  from  Brunswick  a  nd  Amboy,  thought  it 
best  to  retire  which  he  did  in  good  order,  the  enemy 


201  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

keeping  at  a  respectful  distance  during  the  whole  time  of 
their  retrogradation.  The  royal  Highlanders  had  taken 
possession  of  a  wood  by  way  of  ambuscade,  out  of  which 
they  were  expelled  by  our  troops.  Here,  I  believe,  the 
principal  loss  was  sustained  on  both  sides." 

A  few  days  later  Hamilton  observes :  "  Nothing  par- 
ticular in  the  military  line.  The  enemy  still  in  the  Jer- 
seys, though  they  have  been  some  time  sending  away  their 
stores,  baggage,  and  are  raising  new  works  of  defence. 
All  this  may  be  preparatory  to  an  evacuation  at  all  events, 
and  they  may  be  only  intended  to  pave  the  way  for  a  re- 
treat, in  case  of  an  attack  or  any  accident. 

"  Advices  from  the  West  Indies  that  have  an  appear- 
ance of  authenticity,  mention  a  French  vessel  bound  for 
the  continent,  being  taken  up  by  the  British  ship  Perseus, 
and  carried  in  to  Dominique ;  and  a  remonstrance  being 
made  by  the  governor  of  Martinique,  threatening  repri- 
sals in  case  of  a  detention.  Nay,  some  accounts  say,  he 
has  actually  seized  all  the  English  vessels  in  the  harbor 
of  Martinique,  and  imprisoned  their  seamen  till  restitution 
shall  be  made.  If  these  accounts  be  true,  they  are  im- 
portant, and  may  be  considered  as  an  earnest  of  more 
general  hostility.  Perhaps  your  next  favor  will  find  me 
at  Boundbrook.  Head-quarters  will  soon  be  moved  there. 
Our  family  seem  desirous  of  cultivating  a  closer  acquaint- 
ance with  the  enemy  than  we  have  had  the  pleasure  of 
for  some  time  past." 

The  army  now  moved  from  Morristown  to  Middle- 
brook.  The  motives  to  this  change  of  position  are  given 
in  a  letter  of  Hamilton  to  Gouverneur  Morris :  "  June 
second ; — I  received  your  favor  per  express,  and  as  the 
absence  of  my  former  respectable  correspondents  has 
made  a  change  necessary,  I  am  happy  that  you  have  been 
substituted  in  their  room. 


^ET.  20.]  HAMILTON.  205 

"  Except  a  body  of  militia  at  and  about  Princeton,  and 
a  few  detachments  of  observation,  our  whole  army  is  now 
collected  at  two  points ;  the  main  body  here,  and  a  divi- 
sion under  General  Sullivan  at  Princeton.  Though  this 
alteration  of  circumstances  takes  off  in  a  great  measure 
the  restraints  imposed  upon  the  enemy  during  the  winter, 
gives  them  a  more  ample  field  to  range  in,  and  exposes 
the  country  more  to  their  ravages,  yet  the  measure  is 
abundantly  justified  by  every  wise  military  maxim.  The 
rigor  of  the  season  has  been  heretofore  our  chief  securi- 
ty against  those  advantages  which  might  have  been  taken 
of  our  dispersed  state  ;  and  this  disposition  was  necessary 
both  for  the  conveniency  of  winter-quarters,  and  with  a 
view  to  confine  and  distress  the  enemy,  which  was  the 
most  capital  object  we  could  then  propose  to  ourselves. 
It  was  also  necessary  by  this  method,  to  second  the  check 
to  that  torrent  of  influence  which  their  successes  in  the 
Jerseys  had  given  them.  Many  other  justifying  reasons 
might  be  assigned,  which  I  doubt  not  you  will  easily  con- 
ceive ;  and  which  it  would  be  indiscreet  to  commit  to 
paper. 

"  But  now  that  a  more  active  season  is  arrived,  and 
something  of  importance  must  be  done  on  one  side  or  the 
other,  it  becomes  our  business  to  put  ourselves  in  the  best 
posture  both  for  defence  and  offence.  Common  sense 
dictates  that  the  best  way  to  effect  this  is  to  collect  our 
strength.  In  a  collected  state  we  can  best  repel  a  gen- 
eral attack  ;  we  can  best  make  one,  if  circumstances  war- 
rant it ;  and  we  can  move  with  greater  expedition  to  dis- 
concert any  sudden  push  not  immediately  upon  us,  which 
the  enemy  are  likely  to  make.  It  is  needless  to  enlarge 
on  a  subject  which  your  own  judgment  will  enable  you  of 
itself  to  view  in  a  just  light. 

"  As  to  the  designs  of  the  enemy,  appearances  are  so 


THE   KEPUBLIC.  [1777. 

intricate,  fluctuating,  and  seemingly  inconsistent,  that  it 
is  difficult  to  form  any  certain  conclusion  from  them. 
Either  they  do  not  understand  themselves,  and  are  very 
irresolute  and  fickle,  or  they  very  artfully  manage  matters 
to  deceive  us.  I  am  rather  inclined  to  suppose  the  for- 
mer. This,  however,  I  may  say  with  tolerable  certainty, 
that  my  ideas  of  their  intending  to  operate  to  the  south- 
ward, derive  just  support  from  such  parts  of  their  conduct 
lately  as  are  most  intelligible.  We  have  a  variety  of 
concurring  intelligence  that  they  have  lately  drawn  more 
troops  into  the  Jerseys ;  that  they  have  brought  over  a 
large  number  of  wagons,  and  all  the  boats  prepared  for 
bridges,  with  several  other  particulars  of  less  importance, 
all  which  denote  a  preparation  to  operate  this  way.  Per- 
sons who  have  been  among  them  assert  confidently  that 
they  mean  to  attack  us.  But  we  are  divided  in  sentiment 
as  to  the  probability  of  that,  or  of  their  making  a  forced 
march  to  Philadelphia.  If  they  act  wisely,  they  will 
neither  attack  us  in  our  present  situation,  strongly  posted 
as  we  are,  nor  will  they  attempt  to  cross  a  river  where 
they  may  certainly  expect  opposition  in  front,  and  leaving 
at  the  same  time  a  formidable  army  in  the  rear.  He 
should  endeavor  to  draw  us  off  from  here,  and  fight  us 
upon  more  equal  ground.  But  after  all,  if  he  expects  any 
timely  reinforcements,  upon  what  rational  principle  can 
he  risk  his  own  reputation  and  all  the  hopes  of  his  cause, 
in  an  attempt  with  his  present  force,  so  extremely  impor- 
tant and  hazardous  ?  Perhaps  he  only  means  to  get  every 
thing  in  readiness  against  the  arrival  of  the  reinforce- 
ments looked  for,  that  he  may  immediately  commence  his 
operations.  Things,  however,  will  hardly  bear  this  con- 
struction. We  are  told  that  in  seventeen  sail  lately  ar- 
rived from  Europe,  there  were  about  two  thousand  raw 
recruits.  This  from  deserters." 


^ET.  20.]  HAMILTON.  207 

On  the  same  day  he  wrote  an  official  letter  to  Con- 
gress over  Washington's  signature.  Alluding  to  advices 
of  a  probable  attack  by  General  Carleton,  and  to  the 
probability  that  Gates  had 'written  to  Congress,  he  re- 
marked :  "  The  shameful  deficiencies  in  all  our  armies 
afford  but  too  just  grounds  for  disagreeable  apprehen- 
sions. If  the  quotas  assigned  the  different  States  are  not 
immediately  filled,  we  shall  have  every  thing  to  fear.  We 
shall  never  be  able  to  resist  their  force,  if  the  militia  are 
to  be  relied  on,  nor  do  I  know  whether  their  aid,  feeble 
and  ineffectual  as  it  is,  is  much  to  be  expected.  Can  no 
expedient  be  devised  to  complete  the  regiments,  and  to 
arouse  our  unthinking  countrymen  from  their  lethargy  ? 
If  there  can,  the  situation  of  our  affairs  calls  loudly  for 
it." 

The  views  as  to  the  probable  movements  of  the  ene- 
my and  the  measures  to  be  taken,  are  more  fully  shown 
in  a  letter  addressed  by  Hamilton  to  General  Arnold, 
then  stationed  near  the  Delaware,  in  the  name  of  the 
commander-in-chief,  dated  the  seventeenth  of  the  same 
month  from  the  camp,  still  at  Middlebrook  : 

"I  have  received  your  favor  of  the  16th  inst.  Ycu 
mentioned  a  want  of  intelligence  respecting  my  situation 
and  that  of  the  enemy.  As  to  mine,  the  main  body  ot 
our  army  are  encamped  at  Middlebrook,  and  a  considera- 
ble body  under  General  Sullivan  at  Sourland  Hills.  The 
position  here  is  very  strong,  and  with  a  little  labor  which 
will  be  bestowed  upon  it,  will  be  rendered  a  great  deal 
more  so.  The  passes  in  the  mountains  are  for  the  most 
part  extremely  difficult,  and  cannot  be  attempted  with 
any  degree  of  propriety.  Our  right  is  our  most  accessi- 
ble and  weakest  part,  but  two  or  three  redoubts  will  ren- 
der it  as  secure  as  could  be  wished.  The  enemy  are 
strongly  posted,  having  their  right  at  Brunswick  and  their 


208  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

|pft  at  Somerset.  Besides  being  well  fortified  on  the  right 
they  have  the  Raritan  all  along  their  front,  and  the  Mill- 
stone on  their  left. 

"  In  this  situation,  an  attack  upon  them  would  not  be 
warranted  by  a  sufficient  prospect  of  success,  and  might 
be  attended  with  the  most  ruinous  consequences.  My 
design,  therefore,  is  to  collect  all  the  force  that  can  prop- 
erly be  drawn  from  other  quarters  to  this  post,  so  as  to 
reduce  the  security  of  this  army  to  the  greatest  possible 
certainty,  and  to  be  in  a  condition  of  embracing  any  fair 
opportunity  that  may  offer,  to  make  an  advantageous  at- 
tack upon  them.  In  the  mean  time,  I  intend  by  light 
bodies  of  militia,  countenanced  by  a  few  continental 
troops,  to  harass  them,  and  weaken  their  numbers  by 
continual  skirmishes. 

"  I  have  ordered  all  the  continental  troops  at  Peekskill, 
except  the  number  requisite  for  the  security  of  the  post, 
to  hasten  on  to  this  army ;  and  shall  draw  a  part  of  Gen- 
eral Sullivan's  troops  to  reinforce  our  right,  leaving  the 
rest  at  and  about  Sourland  Hills  to  gall  the  flank  and  rear 
of  the  enemy ;  with  orders,  in  case  of  any  movement 
towards  us,  to  endeavor  to  form  a  junction,  or  if  this 
should  not  be  practicable,  to  fall  briskly  upon  their  rear 
or  flank. 

"The  views  of  the  enemy  must  be  to  destroy  this 
army,  and  get  possession  of  Philadelphia.  I  am,  how- 
ever, clearly  of  opinion  that  they  will  not  move  that  way, 
till  they  have  endeavored  to  give  a  severe  blow  to  this 
army.  The  risk  would  be  too  great  to  attempt  to  cross  a 
river,  where  they  must  expect  to  meet  a  formidable  oppo- 
sition in  front,  and  would  have  such  a  force  as  ours  in 
their  rear.  They  might  possibly  be  successful,  but  the 
probability  would  be  infinitely  against  them.  Should  they 
be  imprudent  enough  to  do  it,  I  shall  keep  close  upon 


JET.  20.]  HAMILTON. 

their  heels,  and  do  every  thing  in  my  power  to  make  the 
project  fatal  to  them.  But  besides  the  argument  for  their 
intending,  in  the  first  place,  a  stroke  at  this  army,  drawn 
from  the  policy  of  the  measure,  every  appearance  coin- 
cides to  confirm  the  opinion.  Had  they  designed  for  the 
Delaware  in  the  first  instance,  they  would  probably  have 
made  a  secret,  rapid  march  for  it,  and  not  halted  as  they 
have  done,  to  awaken  our  attention,  and  give  us  time  to 
prepare  for  obstiucting  them.  Instead  of  that,  they  have 
only  advanced  to  a  position  necessary  to  facilitate  an  at- 
tack upon  our  right,  which  is  the  part  they  have  the 
greatest  likelihood  of  injuring  us  in ;  and,  added  to  this 
consideration,  they  have  come  out  as  light  as  possible, 
leaving  all  their  baggage,  provisions,  boats  and  bridges  at 
Brunswick  ;  which  plainly  contradicts  the  idea  of  pushing 
for  the  Delaware. 

"  It  is  an  happy  circumstance  that  such  an  animation 
prevails  among  the  people.  I  would  wish  to  let  it  operate, 
and  draw  as  many  as  possible  together,  which  will  be  a 
great  discouragement  to  the  enemy,  by  showing  that  the 
popular  spirit  is  at  such  a  height ;  and  at  the  same  time 
will  inspire  the  people  themselves  with  confidence  in  their 
own  strength,  by  discovering  to  every  individual  the  zeal 
and  spirit  of  his  neighbors.  But  after  they  have  been 
collected  a  few  days,  I  would  have  the  greater  part  of 
them  dismissed  as  not  being  immediately  wanted,  desiring 
them  to  hold  themselves  in  readiness  for  any  sudden  call, 
and  concerting  signals  with  them,  at  the  appearance  of 
which  they  are  to  fly  to  arms.  I  would  have  every  means 
taken  to  engage  a  couple  thousand  of  them  for  a  month, 
or  as  much  more  as  they  can  be  induced  to  consent  to. 
In  this  case  they  will  be  able  to  render  essential  service, 
both  by  an  addition  of  strength  for  the  present,  and  by 
lessening  the  fatigue  and  duty  of  the  continental  army, 
VOL.  I.— 14 


210  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

which   will  tend  to   preserve  them   both   in  health  and 
spirits. 

"  You  will  forward  on  all  the  continental  troops  by  a 
safe  route  as  fast  as  they  arrive.  But  you  need  send  over 
no  more  of  the  militia  till  further  orders. 

"  I  approve  of  your  fortifying  such  places  as  you  judge 
most  likely  to  frustrate  any  attempt  of  the  enemy  to  pass 
the  river." 

Three  days  after,  Colonel  Hamilton,  over  Washington's 
signature,  wrote  to  General  Putnam  at  Peekskill : 

"General  Howe  has  suddenly  quitted  his  new  post 
between  Somerset  and  Brunswick,  and  has  returned  to 
his  old  situation.  The  whole  design  of  his  making  his  late 
movement  this  way,  may  possibly  have  been  to  induce  us 
to  draw  off  our  troops  from  Peekskill — though  I  think  it 
most  probable  that  he  was  disappointed  in  his  expecta- 
tions of  the  manner  in  which  we  should  act — and  finding 
the  people  turn  out  with  great  spirit  to  strengthen  the 
opposition  we  should  give  him,  concluded  it  most  prudent 
to  relinquish  his  intentions,  and  resume  his  former  position. 
But,  lest  the  former  should  be  the  case,  I  have  ordered 
Generals  McDougall  and  Glover  not  to  proceed.  If  they 
are  at  a  distance  from  you,  they  are  to  halt  where  they 
are,  and  if  they  are  near  Peekskill  they  are  to  go  back 
to  it. 

"  General  Schuyler  writes  to  me,  that  from  some  intelli- 
gence he  had  lately  received,  there  was  reason  to  appre- 
hend that  General  Burgoyne  was  making  preparations  for 
an  immediate  attack  upon  Ticonderoga,  and  on  that 
account  requests  a  reinforcement.  But  as  the  alarm  may 
very  likely  prove  false,  until  we  have  fuller  evidence  that 
such  an  event  is  about  to  take  place,  I  do  not  think  it 
advisable  to  lessen  our  force  in  this  quarter,  by  sending 
them  to  where  they  may  perhaps  not  he  wanted. 

M — .1  .aoY 


^ET.  20.]  HAMILTON.  211 

"  I  would,  however,  have  some  disposition  made  to  re- 
inforce him  with  speed  in  case  it  should  be  necessary  ;  and 
with  this  view  I  have  to  desire  you  will  hold  four  of  the 
strongest  Massachusetts  regiments  under  General  Nixon, 
in  constant  readiness  to  march  at  the  shortest  notice. 
They,  however,  are  not  to  be  sent  off  without  an  order 
from  me  for  the  purpose. 

"  You  will  have  a  sufficient  number  of  vessels  ready 
at  your  post  to  transport  those  troops,  their  baggage,  <fcc., 
by  water  to  Albany.  They  must  oe  so  disposed,  as  that 
they  can  be  made  use  of  and  forwarded  without  the  least 
delay.  If  these  vessels  are  not  to  be  had  at  and  about 
Peekskill  and  Fishkill,  you  must  immediately  send  to 
Albany  to  procure  a  supply  of  what  may  be  deficient,  and 
have  them  brought  down  to  you.  If  you  should  receive 
any  information  that  appears  to  you  authentic,  and  makes 
it  necessary  to  despatch  the  reinforcement,  you  can  have 
the  troops,  baggage  and  provisions  embarked,  waiting 
only  for  my  orders  to  sail ;  acquainting  me  immediately 
by  express  of  the  intelligence  you  may  have  received. 

"  It  will  be  proper  you  should  keep  in  view,  that  the 
enemy's  motions  must  of  necessity  be  in  concert,  and,  if 
they  operate  to  the  northward,  you  must  undoubtedly 
expect  a  visit  to  your  post.  Besides  being  continually 
prepared  for  this  casualty,  it  will  be  highly  useful  to  use 
every  method  of  gaining  intelligence  from  New  York. 
The  most  effectual  means  of  doing  this,  is  hiring  persons 
continually  going  in  to,  and  coming  out  from  the  city." 

A  letter  written  by  him,  for  Washington,  to  Generals 
McDougall  and  Glover  was  to  the  same  effect.  •  aifj 

Two  days  afterwards,  he  again  wrote  to  Putnam  in 
Washington's  name  •**'*'«  You  have  mistaken  the 
orders  I  gave,  according  to  which  General  McDougall 
should  have  halted  at  Pompton  ;  because  he  was  then  at  a 


212  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

considerable  distance  from  Peekskill,  and  was  to  have 
returned  only  in  case  he  had  been  near  that  post.  How- 
ever, as  matters  have  turned  out,  I  am  not  sorry  he  is 
gone  back :  for  it  may  now  be  concluded  with  tolerable 
certainty,  that  the  enemy  are  about  to  quit  the  Jerseys 
and  make  some  expedition  by  water.  The  North  river 
may  probably  be  the  object,  and  if  it  is,  General  McDou- 
gall  with  his  brigade  cannot  too  soon  return  to  reinforce 
you.  Your  utmost  vigilance  and  industry  are  necessary 
to  be  in  all  respects  prepared  to  give  as  much  opposition 
as  possible.  Of  all  things,  you  cannot  take  too  much  care 
to  secure  the  boats  that  they  meet  with  no  accident,  and 
may  be  always  ready  on  a  sudden  emergency,  to  trans- 
port this  army  across  the  river. 

"  The  enemy  abandoned  Brunswick  this  morning,  and 
seem  to  be  pushing  all  their  force  for  Amboy,  which  there 
is  no  doubt  they  will  speedily  evacuate  also.  Having 
gained  intelligence  yesterday  of  their  hasty  preparations 
for  this  purpose,  I  sent  down  last  night  and  early  this 
morning  strong  parties  to  fall  upon  their  flanks  and  rear, 
who  served  to  precipitate  their  retreat,  but  could  not 
have  a  fair  opportunity  of  doing  them  as  much  injury  as 
I  could  wish.  There  have  been  several  smart  skirmish- 
ings, the  effect  not  certainly  known. 

"The  difficulties  you  mention  in  the  removal  of  the 
stores  from  Fishkill  to  the  places  pointed  out,  ought  to 
have  had  no  weight.  As  it  was  a  positive  order  of  Con- 
gress, it  ought  to  have  been  complied  with,  though  at- 
tended with  some  inconveniencies ;  and  the  security  of 
the  magazines  is  of  so  much  consequence,  that  the  ex- 
pense and  trouble  of  removing  them  should  not  be  put 
in  competition  with  it.  The  present  movements  of  the 
enemy  make  it  necessary  the  order  should  be  immediately 
-executed.  It  will  be  proper  to  have  sufficient  guards 


^Er.  20.]  HAMILTON. 

over  them  to  prevent  their  being  injured  by  the  disaf- 
fected inhabitants ;  but  the  continental  troops  should  be 
spared  from  this  duty,  as  much  as  is  consistent  with  pru- 
dence. There  ought  to  be  some  of  them  at  the  most  im- 
portant and  least  secure  places ;  but  the  others  should  be 
committed  to  the  trustiest  of  the  militia.  It  would  be 
advisable  to  have  small  convenient  works  thrown  up 
about  them,  which  will  make  it  less  necessary  to  have 
large  guards,  and  will  discourage  any  attempt  to  destroy 
them." 

On  the  twenty-eighth  of  June,  Hamilton  wrote  to 
Robert  R.  Livingston  this  interesting  letter :  "  Since  my 
last,  addressed  to  Mr.  Morris,  the  enemy  have  been  trying 
a  second  experiment  to  tempt  us  to  an  engagement,  on 
equal  terms  of  ground.  Under  the  supposition  of  their 
intending  to  evacuate  the  Jerseys  immediately,  in  order 
to  keep  up  the  idea  of  a  pursuit,  and  to  be  in  a  posture  to 
take  advantage  of  any  critical  movement  that  might  pre- 
sent itself,  to  give  them  a  blow  ;  the  chief  part  of  our 
army,  after  their  retreat  from  Brunswick,  was  marched 
down  to  Quibbletown,  and  parties  detached  thence  further 
towards  the  enemy.  Finding  this  disposition  take  place, 
and  expecting  that,  elated  by  what  has  passed,  we  might 
be  willing  to  enter  upon  a  general  engagement,  which  is 
Howe's  only  hope,  he  came  out  with  his  whole  army  from 
Amboy,  only  on  Thursday  morning,  and  made  a  forced 
march  towards  our  left,  with  design,  if  possible,  to  cut  off 
some  of  our  detachments,  particularly  one  under  Lord 
Stirling ;  and  probably,  if  we  were  not  expeditious  in  re- 
gaining the  heights,  to  get  there  before  us  by  rapidly  en- 
tering the  passes  on  our  left.  Lord  Stirling's  party  was 
near  being  surrounded,  but  after  a  smart  skirmish  with 
the  enemy's  main  body,  made  their  retreat  good  to  West- 
field,  and  ascended  the  pass  of  the  mountains  back  of  the 


214  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1V77. 

Scotch  plains.  The  other  parties,  after  skirmishing  on 
their  flanks,  came  off  to  join  the  main  body  and  take  pos- 
session of  the  heights.  The  enemy  continued  their  march 
towards  our  left  as  far  as  Westfield,  and  there  halted.  In 
the  mean  time,  it  was  judged  prudent  to  return  with  the 
army  to  the  mountains,  lest  it  should  be  their  intention  to 
get  into  them,  and  force  us  to  fight  them  on  their  own 
terms.  They  remained  at  Westfield  till  the  next  day,  and 
perceiving  their  views  disappointed,  have  again  returned 
to  Amboy,  plundering  and  burning  as  usual.  We  had 
parties  hanging  about  them  on  their  return ;  \>ut  they 
were  so  much  on  their  guard,  no  favorable  opportunity 
could  be  found  of  giving  them  any  material  annoyance. 
Their  loss  we  cannot  ascertain ;  and  our  own  in  men  is 
inconsiderable,  though  we  have  as  yet  received  no  returns 
of  the  missing.  I  have  no  doubt  they  have  lost  more  men 
than  we,  but  unfortunately,  I  won't  say  from  what  cause, 
they  got  three  field-pieces  from  us  which  will  give  them 
room  for  vaporing,  and  embellish  their  excursion  in  the 
eyes  of  those  who  make  every  trifle  a  matter  of  importance. 
It  is  not  unlikely  they  will  soon  be  out  of  the  Jerseys  ;  but 
where  they  will  go  to  next  is  mere  matter  of  conjecture, 
for,  as  you  observe,  their  conduct  is  so  eccentric,  as  to 
leave  no  certain  grounds  on  which  to  form  a  judgment  of 
their  intentions.  I  know  the  comments  that  some  people 
will  make  on  our  Fabian  conduct.  It  will  be  imputed 
either  to  cowardice  or  to  weakness.  But  the  more  dis- 
cerning, I  trust,  will  not  find  it  difficult  to  conceive,  that 
it  proceeds  from  the  truest  policy,  and  is  an  argument 
neither  of  the  one  nor  the  other. 

"The  liberties  of  America  are  an  infinite  stake.  We 
should  not  play  a  desperate  game  for  it  or  put  it  upon  the 
issue  of  a  single  cast  of  the  die.  The  loss  of  one  general 
engagement  may  effectually  ruin  us,  and  it  would  certain- 


^Er.  20.]  HAMILTON.  215 

ly  be  folly  to  hazard  it,  unless  our  resources  for  keeping 
up  an  army  were  at  an  end,  and  some  decisive  blow  was 
absolutely  necessary ;  or  unless,  our  strength  was  so  great 
as  to  give  certainty  of  success.  Neither  is  the  case. 
America  can,  in  all  probability,  maintain  its  army  for 
years ;  and  our  numbers,  though  such  as  would  give  a 
reasonable  hope  of  success,  are  not  such  as  should  make 
us  entirely  sanguine.  A  third  consideration,  did  it  exist, 
might  make  it  expedient  to  risk  such  an  event — the  pros- 
pect of  very  great  reinforcements  to  the  enemy ;  but 
every  appearance  contradicts  this,  and  affords  all  reason 
to  believe  they  will  get  very  inconsiderable  accessions  of 
strength  this  campaign.  All  the  European  maritime  pow- 
ers are  interested  for  the  defeat  of  the  British  arms  in 
America,  and  will  never  assist  them.  A  small  part  of 
Germany  is  disposed  to  make  a  market  of  its  troops,  and 
even  this  seems  not  over  fond  of  being  drained  any  far- 
ther :  many  springs  may  be  put  in  motion  even  to  put  a 
stop  to  this.  The  king  of  Prussia  may,  perhaps,  without 
much  difficulty,  be  engaged  to  espouse  views  unfriendly  to 
the  court  of  Britain,  and  a  nod  of  his  would  be  sufficient 
to  prevent  all  future  German  succors.  He,  as  well  as 
most  other  powers  of  Europe,  feels  the  necessity  of  com- 
merce and  a  large  maritime  force,  to  be  generally  respect- 
able. His  situation  till  lately  has  been  unfavorable  to 
this ;  but  the  reduction  of  Poland  and  the  acquisition  of 
Dantzig  in  the  Baltic,  have  put  it  very  much  in  his  power 
to  pursue  commercial  schemes  and  may  tempt  him  to  be 
propitious  to  American  independence.  Russian  assistance 
is  still  infinitely  more  precarious ;  for  besides  that  it  can- 
not be  the  true  interest  of  that  ambitious  empire  to  put  its 
troops  to  sale,  it  is  at  present  embroiled  with  the  Turks, 
and  will  want  all  its  men  to  employ  in  its  own  wars. 
England  herself,  from  the  nature  of  her  policy,  can  fur- 


216  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

nish  few  soldiers,  and  even  those  few  can  ill  be  spared,  to 
come  to  America  in  the  present  hostile  appearance  of 
affairs  in  Europe.  On  whatever  side  it  is  considered,  no 
great  reinforcements  are  to  be  expected  to  the  British 
army  in  America.  It  is,  therefore,  Howe's  business  to 
make  the  most  of  his  present  strength ;  and  as  he  is  not 
numerous  enough  to  conquer  and  garrison  as  he  goes,  his 
only  hope  lies  in  fighting  us,  and  giving  a  general  defeat 
at  one  blow. 

"  On  our  part,  we  are  continually  strengthening  our 
political  springs  in  Europe,  and  may  every  day  look  for 
more  effectual  aids  than  we  have  yet  received.  Our  own 
army  is  continually  growing  stronger  in  men,  arms  and 
discipline ;  we  shall  soon  have  an  important  addition  of 
artillery,  now  on  its  way  to  join  us.  We  can  maintain 
our  present  numbers  good,  at  least  by  enlistments,  while 
the  enemy  must  dwindle  away ;  and  at  the  end  of  the 
summer  the  disparity  between  us  will  be  infinitely  great, 
and  facilitate  any  exertions  that  may  be  made  to  settle  the 
business  with  them.  Their  affairs  will  be  growing  worse, 
ours  better ;  so  that  delay  will  ruin  them.  It  will  serve 
to  perplex  and  fret  them,  and  precipitate  them  into  meas- 
ures that  we  can  turn  to  good  account.  Our  business, 
then,  is  to  avoid  a  general  engagement,  and  waste  the 
enemy  by  constantly  goading  their  sides  in  a  desultory, 
teasing  way.  In  the  mean  time,  it  is  painful  to  leave  a 
part  of  our  inhabitants  a  prey  to  their  depredations ;  and 
it  is  wounding  to  the  feelings  of  a  soldier,  to  see  an  enemy 
parading  before  him  and  daring  him  to  fight,  which  he  is 
obliged  to  decline.  But  a  part  must  be  sacrificed  to  the 
whole,  and  passion  must  give  way  to  reason.  You  will 
be  sensible  that  it  will  not  be  advisable  to  publish  the  sen- 
timents contained  in  this  letter  as  coming  from  me ;  be- 
cause this  will  make  the  enemy  more  fully  acquainted  with 


MT.  20.]  II  A  MILT  ON.  217 

pur  views ;  but  it  might  not  be  amiss  to  have  them  cir- 
culated as  those  which  ought  to  govern  the  conduct  of  the 
army,  in  order  to  prepare  the  minds  of  the  people  for 
what  may  happen,  and  take  off  the  disagreeable  impres- 
sions our  caution  may  make." 

The  hoped-for  interposition  of  Frederick  the  Great  to 
prevent  the  traffic  in  German  troops  was  confirmed  by  his 
subsequent  conduct.  He  publicly  condemned  this  nefa- 
rious trade  in  the  lives  of  men,  and  forbade  the  march  of 
these  mercenaries  through  his  dominions 

Mirabeau  also  came  to  the  rescue  of  humanity.  In  an 
address  entitled  a  "  Counsel  to  the  Hessians  and  other 
people  of  Germany  sold  by  their  sovereigns  to  England," 
he  appealed  with  his  wonted  eloquence  to  the  pride  of  the 
German  people,  denounced  the  policy  of  their  rulers,  and 
awakened  their  sympathies  to  the  cause  of  America. 
"  Ye  people,  betrayed,  debased  and  sold,  you  should  blush 
at  your  errors !  Let  the  cover  fall  from  your  eyes,  quit 
the  soil  that  is  stained  with  despotism.  Cross  the  seas  ? 
flee  to  America ;  but  embrace  your  brothers,  defend  this 
generous  people  against  the  haughty  rapacity  of  their 
persecutors ;  share  their  good  fortune ;  multiply  their 
strength ;  aid  them  by  your  industry ;  appropriate  to 
yourselves  their  riches  while  increasing  them.  Such  is  the 
end  of  society,  such  is  the  duty  of  man,  whom  nature  has 
made  to  love  his  neighbors,  and  not  to  butcher  them. 

"  Learn  from  the  Americans  the  art  of  being  free,  of 
being  happy,  of  turning  social  institutions  to  the  profit  of 
each  member  of  society.  Forget,  in  the  capacious  asylum 
which  they  open  to  suffering  humanity,  the  infatuation  of 
which  you  were  the  participators  and  the  victims.  Un- 
derstand what  is  true  greatness,  true  glory  and  true  hap- 
piness." 

To  this  appeal  the  Landgrave  of  Hesse  Cassel  dared 


218  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

an  answer,  which  drew  from  the  gifted  Frenchman  a 
withering  reply. 

Though  diminished,  these  subsidies  of  men  continued  to 
the  end  of  the  Revolution,  torn  from  the  bosoms  of  their 
families  and  kidnapped  on  the  public  highways.  The 
youth,  the  student,  the  poet  was  not  safe  in  the  land  of 
his  birth.  The  return  of  America  to  this  grievous  wrong 
has  been,  as  Hamilton  early  proffered,  "  to  receive  them 
as  brethren  and  make  them  sharers  with  us  in  all  the  ad- 
vantages we  were  struggling  for."* 

On  the  sixth  of  July  he  again  wrote  to  Gouverneur 
Morris :  "  If  I  recollect  how  far  my  last  went,  it  did  not 
announce  the  return  of  the  enemy  from  Westfield  to  Am- 
boy,  nor  their  evacuation  of  that  place  since.  After  rest- 
ing and  refreshing  themselves  a  night,  they  decamped  the 
following  day,  and  proceeded  to  Amboy,  from  which 
place  they  went  to  Staten  Island  as  expeditiously  as  they 
could,  where  they  still  remain. 

"  The  news  from  the  northward  wore  so  serious  a  face 
that  our  generals  thought  the  enemy  were  about  to  oper- 
ate in  earnest  against  our  posts  in  that  quarter ;  and  as, 
supposing  this  the  case,  General  Howe  might  certainly  be 
expected  to  co-operate  by  way  of  the  North  river,  it  was 
judged  necessary  to  move  the  main  body  of  the  army 
from  Middlebrook  to  M orristown ;  to  advance  a  division 
under  General  Sullivan  to  Pompton,  and  another  under 
General  Parsons  as  far  as  Peekskill.  A  brigade  at  that 
post,  under  General  Nixon,  was  ordered,  so  soon  as  Par- 
sons' division  arrived  near  its  destination,  to  proceed  im- 
mediately as  a  reinforcement  to  the  northern  army.  This 
disposition  is  deemed  advantageous  to  prevent  the  success 
of  a  coup  de  main  on  the  Highland  passes,  and  not  incon- 
sistent with  a  proper  attention  to  Philadelphia,  should  the 

*  Hamilton's  Works  ii    8. 


yEr.  20.]  HAMILTON.  219 

northern  alarm  prove  nothing  more  than  a  diversion,  and 
Howe  return  to  the  charge  that  way. 

"  I  am  loath  to  risk  a  conjecture  about  Mr.  Howe.  He 
is  such  an  unintelligible  gentleman,  that  no  rule  of  inter- 
pretation can  possibly  be  found  out  by  which  to  unravel 
his  designs.  If  he  acted  like  a  man  of  sense,  he  would 
wait  quietly  on  Staten  Island,  and  there  concentrate  all 
his  forces.  He  would  draw  round  him  all  the  men  that 
could  be  spared  from  Canada,  and  all  that  are  now  at 
Rhode  Island.  With  these,  and  the  reinforcements  he 
may  receive  from  Europe,  he  would  make  a  point  of 
forcing  us,  by  some  means  or  other,  to  an  action.  In  this 
his  only  hope  lies.  If  he  could  defeat  our  army  and  im- 
prove the  moment  of  success,  he  would  go  very  near 
effecting  his  purpose  ;  but,  let  him  go  to  the  northward 
or  to  the  southward,  every  new  post  he  takes  weakens  his 
main  body,  and  makes  it  the  more  liable  to  be  ruined  by 
our  collective  strength.  Any  object  short  of  our  army  is 
a  bad  one ;  and  that  plan  is  the  worst,  where,  by  a  divi- 
sion of  his  forces  he  runs  the  hazard,  in  case  of  an  acci- 
dent either  way,  of  having  his  whole  scheme  overturned. 

"We  have  different  accounts  of  the  present  situation  of 
his  army.  Some  tell  us  that  the  whole  is  now  encamped 
on  Staten  Island  ;  others,  that  the  greater  part  of  the 
Hessians  are  on  board  the  ships.  By  some  sailors  who 
came  from  them  yesterday,  we  are  told  that  the  ships  are 
taking  in  water  and  provisions  for  two  months,  and  that 
conveniences  for  transporting  horses  are  fitting  up  in  them. 
All  this  is  rather  vague,  and  may  or  may  not  be  true. 
Their  flourishes  in  the  Jerseys,  I  believe,  cannot  have  cost 
them  less  than  six  or  seven  hundred  men.  We  have  not 
lost  above  a  hundred.  This  is  the  best  way  of  ruining 
them  without  risking  any  thing.  Our  present  situation  is 
embarrassing.  Their  ships  give  them  a  vast  advantage, 


220  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

and  we  shall  probably  be  much  puzzled  when  they  begin 
their  operations  again.  We  shall,  however,  act  cautiously, 
and  do  the  best  we  can.  We  are  anxiously  waiting  for 
northern  intelligence.  Please  forward  the  enclosed  to 
General  Schuyler  per  first  opportunity." 

A  few  days  previous  he  had  written  to  Governor 
Trumbull,  over  Washington's  signature,  as  to  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  public  arms,  and  the  movements  of  the  enemy. 
He  stated,  orders  were  given  to  four  of  the  strongest 
Massachusetts  regiments  to  relieve  Ticonderoga,  and  to 
Clinton,  "  without  loss  of  time  to  call  out  a  respectable 
body  of  the  New  York  militia  to  join  General  Putnam. 
I  have,"  he  added,  "  the  fullest  confidence  that  you  will  do 
every  thing  you  can  to  second  my  endeavors,  by  forward- 
ing as  fast  as  possible  the  remaining  troops  of  your  State, 
or  whatever  else  may  be  in  your  power.  Our  greatest 
exertions  will  be  requisite  to  counteract  the  enemy  in  their 
first  attempts,  on  which  their  success  chiefly  depends." 
In  a  letter  to  Governor  Rutledge  over  Washington's  sig- 
nature, he  gave  a  similar  view  of  the  purposes  of  the 
British,  and  acknowledged  the  reasons  assigned  for  de- 
clining the  attempt  on  St.  Augustine  previously  proposed, 
to  be  "  entirely  solid  and  satisfactory." 

These  letters  are  not  only  important  in  themselves, 
but  also  to  show  the  systematic  care  observed  throughout 
the  whole  of  Hamilton's  participation  in  public  affairs  to 
diffuse  correct  information  of  public  measures. 

Learning  the  preparations  of  Howe  to  embark,  Col- 
onel Hamilton  again  wrote  over  Washington's  signature 
to  Governor  Trumbull :  "I  have  thought  it  my  duty  to 
communicate  to  you  the  information  I  have  received,  that 
in  case  any  thing  should  be  meditated  against  the  eastern 
States  you  may  not  be  taken  by  surprise,  and  may  have 
warning  to  put  matters  in  the  best  situation  you  can  to 


;ET.  20.]  HAMILTON.  221 

give  them  a  proper  reception.  On  my  part  no  vigilance 
nor  exertion  shall  be  wanting  to  ascertain  their  intentions 
and  give  effectual  assistance  wherever  they  may  direct 
their  efforts."  He  expressed  surprise  as  to  the  discontents 
of  the  eastern  States  in  respect  to  the  supply  of  arms, 
which  they  had  received  "  in  much  greater  proportion  than 
the  other  States." 

A  scene  of  much  interest  was  now  opening  to  the 
view  on  the  northern  frontier  of  New  York  where  the  in- 
fluences of  the  previous  campaign  were  most  inhappy. 

While  "  the  levies  "  in  the  other  colonies  had  submitted 
to  the  assumed  powers  of  the  Continental  Congress,  those 
of  Connecticut  refused  to  sign  the  articles  of  war  it  had 
established.  Wooster,  who  was  present  at  the  taking  of 
Louisburg,  and  had  commanded  a  regiment  of  Connecti- 
cut militia  during  the  war  with  France,  was,  in  seventy- 
five,  promoted,  with  the  rank  of  major-general,  to  the 
command  of  all  the  troops  raised  by  that  colony.  On 
the  organization  of  an  army  by  Congress,  he  was  com- 
missioned by  them  as  brigadier-general.  The  spirit  of 
the  Connecticut  soldiers  alarmed  Schuyler.  He  was 
compelled  to  call  upon  Wooster  to  state  on  what  ground 
he  stood,  that  of  a  provincial  or  a  continental  officer. 
Wooster  met  the  question  in  a  proper  spirit,  and  avowed 
his  purpose  to  be  governed  by  the  articles  of  war.  His 
decision,  felt  by  himself  to  have  involved  a  sacrifice  of 
rank,  was  not  in  consonance  with  the  temper  of  his  men. 

This  was  seriously  felt  by  Montgomery  and  by 
Schuyler. 

Early  in  September,  seventy-five,  the  latter,  on  his 
incursion  into  Canada,  proceeded,  though  ill  with  the 
gout,  from  the  Isle  aux  Noix  along  the  Sorel  to  the  vi- 
cinity of  St.  Johns,  where  a  cannonade  from  its  fort  was 
opened  upon  him.  A  short  distance  farther  on,  having 


222  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

landed  his  troops,  he  attacked  a  party  of  tories  and  In- 
dians, losing  a  few  men.  The  night  was  passed  near  the 
fort,  from  which  infrequent  shells  broke  near  him  with 
trifling  injury.  Advices  of  the  increased  strength  of  this 
work  determined  a  council  of  officers  to  retire  to  the  Isle 
aux  Noix  until  reinforcements  came  up.* 

These  arriving,  the  investment  of  St.  Johns  was  re- 
sumed. At  the  moment  Schuyler  was  about  again  to  lead 
on  his  troops,  he  was  again  taken  seriously  ill  and  com- 
pelled to  confide  the  conduct  of  the  expedition  to  the 
brave  Irishman,  Montgomery,  his  second  in  command. 
Schuyler's  bed  was  placed  in  a  covered  batteau  and  he 
returned  to  Ticonderoga  to  forward  aid.  Montgomery 
moved  on  to  the  investment,  which  proceeded  slowly, 
until  Colonel  Lamb,  a  leader,  as  has  been  seen,  in  the 
early  popular  commotions  of  New  York,  now  an  intrepid 
soldier,  arrived  with  a  small  train  of  artillery.  St.  Johns 
ultimately  surrendered.  During  the  siege,  a  letter  from 
Montgomery  to  Schuyler  shows  the  insubordination  of  a 
part  of  his  command.  "  Were  I  not  afraid  the  example 
would  be  too  generally  followed,  and  that  the  public  ser- 
vice might  suffer,  I  would  not  stay  an  hour  at  the  head  of 
troops  whose  operations  I  cannot  direct." 

Schuyler  also  complained  of  "  the  want  of  subordina- 
tion "  and  inattention  to  his  orders,  and  of  the  impatience 
to  return  home. 

Washington  felt  the  same  difficulties.  "  The  Connec- 
ticut troops,"  he  wrote  to  Reed  from  Cambridge,  "  will 
not  be  prevailed  upon  to  stay  longer  than  their  term, 
saving  those  who  have  enlisted  for  the  next  campaign,  and 
are  mostly  on  furlough ;  and  such  a  mercenary  spirit  per- 
vades the  whole  that  I  should  not  be  surprised  at  any  dis- 
aster that  may  happen."  They  "  are  exceedingly  turbu- 

*  Irving's  Washington,  ii.  59. 


JEi:  20.]  HAMILTON".  223 

lent  and  even  mutinous,"  Montgomery  writes  the  day 
after  the  capture  of  Montreal.  "  I  am  weary  of  power, 
and  totally  want  that  patience  and  temper  so  requisite  for 
such  a  command.  I  wish  some  method  could  be  fallen 
upon  of  engaging  gentlemen  to  serve.  A  point  of  honor 
and  more  knowledge  of  the  world  to  be  found  in  that 
class  of  men,  would  greatly  reform  discipline,  and  render 
the  troops  much  more  tractable."  The  discontent  had 
extended  to  those  of  New  York. 

The  repulse  at  Quebec  and  the  disasters  that  fol- 
lowed increased  this  spirit,  which  was  exhibited  more 
openly  when,  by  the  fall  of  Montgomery,  the  command 
devolved  upon  Wooster. 

The  generous  warmth  of  Schuyler  gave  new  cause  of 
dissatisfaction.  A  party  of  an  hundred  persons,  ice- 
bound, starving,  applied  to  him  for  aid.  Schuyler  ordered 
three  captains  of  Wooster's  men  "  to  attempt  a  relief  to 
the  unhappy  sufferers."  Their  reluctant  frivolous  excuses 
drew  from  him  a  public  rebuke  which  was  not  forgotten.* 

Some  time  after,  Schuyler,  seeing  the  full  extent  of 
the  alienation,  wrote  to  Washington :  "  I  have  already 
informed  you  of  the  disagreeable  situation  I  have  been  in 
during  the  campaign  ;  but  I  would  waive  that,  were  it  not 
that  it  has  chiefly  arisen  from  prejudice  and  jealousy;  for 
I  could  point  out  particular  persons  of  rank  in  the  army, 
who  have  frequently  declared  that  the  general  command- 
ing in  this  quarter,  ought  to  be  of  the  colony  from  whence 
the  majority  of  the  troops  came.  But  it  is  not  from  opin- 
ions or  principles  of  individuals  that  I  have  drawn  the 
following  conclusion,  that  troops  from  the  colony  of  Con- 
necticut will  not  bear  with  a  general  from  another  colony ; 
it  is  from  the  daily  and  common  conversation  of  all  ranks 
of  people  from  that  colony,  both  in  and  out  of  the  army." 

*  Irving's  Washington,  ii.  55. 


224  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

He  laments  it  as  "  an  unbecoming  jealousy,"  and  adds, 
"  although  I  frankly  avow  that  I  feel  a  resentment,  yet  I 
shall  continue  to  sacrifice  it  to  a  nobler  object — the  weal 
of  that  country  in  which  I  have  drawn  the  breath  of  life, 
resolved  ever  to  seek  with  unwearied  assiduity  for  oppor- 
tunities to  fulfil  my  duty  to  it." 

This  prejudice  did  not  subside.  The  desire  to  serve 
under  Wooster  grew,  yet  Washington  had  been  early 
apprised  that  he  was  "  not  of  such  activity  as  to  press 
through  the  difficulties  with  which  the  service  "  in  which 
he  was  employed,  "  was  environed." 

The  dangers  of  a  retreat  demanded  an  officer  of 
greater  energy.  Schuyler  censured — Wooster  was  of- 
fended. The  troops  of  New  England  partook  of  his 
feelings,  and  along  the  frontier,  threatened  with  all  the 
ravages  of  an  invasion,  alarms  were  followed  by  clamors, 
and  clamors  by  accusations.  The  tories  felt  the  importance 
of  driving  from  the  command  a  man  of  Schuyler's  vigor 
and  resource.  Charges  were  circulated,  not  only  against 
his  military  conduct,  but  against  his  integrity.  Commit- 
tees were  raised  and  resolves  published  of  grossest  impu- 
tation. Schuyler  demanded  "  an  immediate  inquiry  "  into 
his  conduct.  "  Your  excellency  will  therefore  please,"  he 
wrote  to  Washington,  "  to  order  a  court  of  inquiry  the 
soonest  possible,  for  I  cannot  sit  easy  under  such  an  in- 
famous imputation.  It  is  peculiarly  hard,  that  at  the  very 
time  that  assassins  and  incendiaries  are  employed  to  take 
away  my  life  and  property,  as  being  an  active  friend  to 
my  country  ;  at  the  very  time  when  I  had  taken  measures 
and  given  orders,  some  of  which  are  actually  executed,  to 
secure  the  tories  and  to  send  them  down  to  your  excel- 
lency, a  set  of  pretended  whigs  (for  such  they  are  that 
have  propagated  these  diabolical  tales)  should  proclaim  me 
through  all  America  a  traitor  to  my  country."  Wash- 


JEx.  20.]  HAMILTON.  225 

ington  declared  his  "  disbelief,  detestation  and  abhorrence  " 
of  these  calumnies,  viewing  them  as  designed  "  to  excite 
disorder  and  confusion." 

An  immediate  remedy  was  necessary.  Commissioners* 
were  sent  by  Congress  to  the  northern  line.  Their  dis- 
patch from  Montreal  describes  the  army  as  "broken  and 
disheartened,"  "  without  discipline  "  and  without  supplies. 
"  General  Wooster  is,  in  our  opinion,  totally  unfit  to  com- 
mand your  army  and  conduct  the  war.  His  stay  is  un- 
necessary and  even  prejudicial  to  our  affairs.  We  would 
therefore  advise  his  recall."  Congress  ordered  Washing- 
ton to  call  him  to  New  York.  Wooster  demanded  an 
inquiry,  which  was  favorable  to  him.  He  then  resigned 
his  continental  command,  and  was  appointed  first  major- 
general  of  the  Connecticut  militia. 

To  meet  the  great  emergency,  six  thousand  militia — 
seven-eighths  from  New  England,  the  residue  from  New 
York,  were  ordered  to  reinforce  the  northern  army ;  and 
Washington  was  directed  to  order  Gates  to  the  command 
in  Canada.f  "His  great  ability  and  virtue,"  Richard 
Henry  Lee  writes  to  Washington,  "will  be  absolutely 
necessary  to  restore  things  there,  and  his  recommendations 
will  always  be  readily  complied  with.  You  will  find  that 
great  powers  are  given  to  the  commander  in  that  distant 
department."  "We  have  ordered  you,"  John  Adams 
wrote  to  him,  "  to  the  post  of  honor,  and  made  you  dic- 
tator in  Canada  fcr  six  months."  J  "The  affairs  of  Can- 
ada," Gerry,  also  a  delegate  from  Massachusetts,  remarked 
to  him,  "  have  evidently  been  suffering  for  the  want  of  an 
experienced  officer  to  take  the  command." 

Gates  proceeded  to  Albany,  where  Schuyler  had  re- 
turned, being  received  by  the  people  with  their  accus- 

*  Chase  and  Carrol.  t  June  17,  1776. 

^  Force's  American  Archives,  June  18-28,  1775. 

VOL.  I.— 15 


226  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

tomed  affection.  He  immediately  sought  an  interview 
with  Gates,  and,  as  the  post  of  first  importance  within  his 
own  command,  tendered  him  the  charge  of  Ticonderoga. 

Gates,  unwilling  to  serve  in  a  subordinate  capacity, 
claimed  the  command  of  the  northern  department.  The 
question  was  referred  to  Congress.  A  resolution  was 
immediately  passed  that  Gates  be  "  informed  that  it  was 
their  intention  to  give  him  the  command  of  the  troops 
whilst  in  Canada,  but  that  they  had  no  design  to  vest  him 
with  a  superior  command  to  General  Schuyler,  whilst  the 
troops  should  be  on  this  side  Canada." 

The  eastern  States  opposed  this  resolution,  and  had 
Rhode  Island  been  present,  would  have  prevailed  in  favor 
of  Gates.*  He  had  repaired  to  Ticonderoga,  and  thence, 
with  wounded  pride,  wrote  to  Samuel  Adams :  "  I  desire, 
if  Chace  is  returned  to  Congress,  he  may  know  how  much 
I  have  been  deceived  and  disappointed  in  being  removed 
from  a  place  where  I  might  have  done  the  public  service, 
and  fixed  in  a  situation  where  it  is  exceedingly  doubtful  if 
it  will  be  in  my  power  to  be  more  than  a  wretched  spec- 
tator of  a  ruined  army." 

Overlooking  what  had  passed,  Schuyler  declared  to 
Gates  his  desire  to  cultivate  "  mutual  harmony." 

Soon  after  Gates  had  taken  the  command,  the  troops 
stationed  at  Crown  Point  were  withdrawn.  His  appoint- 
ment having  been  made  with  a  full  purpose  to  recover 
the  ground  lost  early  in  the  year,  Washington  condemned 
this  retrograde  movement,  as  a  relinquishment  of  the  lakes 
would  open  an  "  uninterrupted  passage  into  three  of  the 
New  England  governments."  Gates  gave  a  sharp  reply : 
"  I  must  now  take  the  liberty  to  animadvert  a  little  upon 
the  unprecedented  behavior  of  the  members  of  your 
council  to  their  compeers  in  this  department.  They,  sir, 

*  Roger  Sherman  to  Trumbull,  May  26,  1777. 


/ET.  20.]  HAMILTON.  227 

having  every  ample  supply  at  hand,  make  no  allowance 
for  the  misfortunes  and  wants  of  this  army,  nor  for  the 
delay  and  difficulty  that  attend  the  procuring  every  thing 
necessary  here.  Had  we  a  healthy  army,  four  times  the 
number  of  the  enemy,  our  magazines  full,  our  artillery 
complete,  stores  of  every  kind  in  profuse  abundance,  with 
vast  and  populous  towns  and  country  close  at  hand  to 
supply  our  wants,  your  Excellency  would  hear  no  com- 
plaints from  this  army ;  and  the  members  of  your  coun- 
cil, our  brethren  and  compeers,  would  have  as  little  reason 
then,  as  they  have  now,  to  censure  the  conduct  of  those 
who  are  in  nothing  inferior  to  themselves." 

The  tone  of  this  letter  is  the  more  remarkable,  as  the 
command  had  been  conferred  upon  Gates  with  Washing- 
ton's warm  approval.  He  replied  :  "  In  answer  to  those 
parts  of  your  letter  in  which  you  so  highly  resent  the  con- 
duct of  the  general  officers  here,  I  would  observe,  sir,  that 
you  are  under  a  mistake  when  you  suppose  a  council  of 
officers  had  sat  upon  those,  who  composed  the  board  at 
Crown  Point."  "  No  event  of  which  I  have  been  informed 
for  a  long  time,  produced  a  more  general  chagrin  and  con- 
sternation. But  yet  there  was  no  council  called  upon  the 
occasion,  nor  court  of  inquiry,  nor  court  martial,  as  has 
been  suspected  by  some.  I  will  not  take  up  more  time 
upon  the  subject,  nor  make  it  a  matter  of  further  discus- 
sion, not  doubting  but  those  who  determined  that  the  post 
ought  to  be  abandoned,  conceived  it  would  promote  the 
interest  of  the  great  cause  we  are  engaged  in.  By  the 
bye,  I  wish  your  description  perfectly  corresponded  with 
the  circumstances  of  this  army." 

His  knowledge  of  a  party  formed  in  his  favor  in  Con- 
gress doubtless  had  encouraged  Gates  to  insubordination. 
At  the  time  of  this  correspondence  he  received  another 
letter  from  Gerry,  written  at  Hartford  :  "  We  want  very 


228  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

much  to  see  you  in  the  sole  command  in  the  northern 
department,  but  hope  that  you  will  not  relinquish  your 
station  until  a  favorable  opportunity  shall  effect  it." 

In  this  post  he  remained  until  ordered  by  Schuyler  to 
hasten  with  a  body  of  troops  to  the  aid  of  Washington  at 
the,  close  of  the  year. 

To  avail  himself  of  his  services  in  a  position  in  which 
he  could  be  most  useful,  Washington  urged  him  soon  after, 
and  Congress  requested  him,  to  resume  the  office  of  adju- 
tant-general, retaining  his  rank  and  pay.  He  declined  it 
with  displeasure,  and  was  ordered  again  to  Ticonderoga.* 
His  letters  to  Washington  were  still  peevish,  and  drew 
from  him  a  mild  rebuke. 

Gates  was  not  to  be  satisfied,  and  Congress  felt  them- 
selves compelled  to  define  precisely  the  extent  of  the 
northern  department.  They  declared  "that  Albany,  Ti- 
conderoga, Fort  Stanwix  and  their  dependencies  be  hence- 
forward considered "  as  that  department,  and  ordered 
Schuyler  to  take  the  command.  This  vote  was  passed 
late  in  May.  Gates  decided  to  appeal  to  them  in  person, 
and  on  the  eighteenth  of  June  he  was  at  the  door  of  that 
body,  asking  admittance  on  the  plea  of  communicating 
information. 

At  the  instance  of  Roger  Sherman,  an  influential 
member  from  Connecticut,  he  was  received  into  their 
presence. 

After  some  desultory  statements  of  little  moment, 
vaunting  his  merits  in  relinquishing  a  life  of  ease  to  enter 
the  field  in  behalf  of  the  liberty  of  America,  and  his  ex- 
ertions in  its  defence,  Gates  opened  his  grief.  He  had 
been  superseded  in  a  command  to  which  he  had  been  so 
recently  appointed  without  cause,  and  without  opportunity 
of  vindication.  His  ire  rose.  Reproaches  of  Congress 

*  March  25,  1777. 


JE-r.  20.]  HAMILTON.  229 

followed,  even  to  the  inculpation  of  a  delegate  from  New 
York — a  friend  of  Schuyler.  Duane  called  upon  the 
president  to  interpose.  A  motion  that  he  withdraw  was 
seconded,  but  was  opposed  by  some  of  the  eastern  dele- 
gates. 

In  the  midst  of  a  warm  discussion,  Gates,  in  high  tem- 
per, left  the  House.  A  sense  of  their  own  dignity  at  last 
prevailed.  It  was  resolved  he  should  not  be  again  ad- 
mitted, that  a  written  representation  from  him  be  made. 
Gates  was  soon  after  ordered  to  repair  to  head-quarters. 

During  this  scene  of  folly,  events  at  the  northward 
were  hastening  to  an  issue.  Ere  the  public  pulse  had 
calmed  after  the  celebration  in  the  principal  towns,  "  with 
much  pomp  and  illuminations,"  of  the  first  anniversary  of 
American  Independence,  a  great  reverse  took  place. 

The  results  of  the  campaign  of  the  preceding  year, 
though  finally  disastrous  to  the  Americans,  had  not  met 
the  expectations  of  the  English  public,  unused  to  defeat, 
and  taught  to  believe  that  a  junction  of  their  two  armies 
from  opposite  points  would  terminate  the  contest.  The 
command  of  the  active  column  of  the  force  to  operate 
from  Canada  was  intrusted  to  Lieutenant-general  Bur- 
goyne,  who  now  resolved  to  achieve  his  fame.  With  this 
view  he  had  repaired  to  England  during  the  winter,  sub- 
mitted his  plans  to  the  war  office,  and  aided  by  high  family 
influence  to  which  his  claim  was  not  legitimate,*  obtained 
all  he  asked  of  troops  and  muniments  of  war. 

From  the  gay  saloons  of  London  he  returned  to  Que- 
bec early  in  the  spring,  and  pressed  on  with  ardor  the 
preparations  for  the  campaign.  Leaving  behind  him  un- 
der Carleton  for  the  protection  of  Canada  a  mixed  body 
of  three  thousand  men,  on  the  twenty-hrst  of  June,  two 

*  "He  was  a  natural  son  of  Lord  Bingley,  high  in  confidence." — Lossiny't 
Pictorial  Field  Book,  i.  37. 


230  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777 

days  after  Gates's  scene  with  Congress,  he  took  post  with 
his  well  appointed  army  on  the  western  bank  of  Lake 
Champlain.  Hence  he  proceeded  to  the  Boquet  near 
Crown  Point.  His  regular  force  consisted  of  nearly  seven 
thousand  men,  exclusive  of  the  artillerists,  British  and 
German.  The  former  under  Major-general  Philips  of  the 
artillery,  Brigadiers  Fraser,  Hamilton  and  Powell,  the  lat- 
ter commanded  by  Major-general  the  Baron  Riedesel  of 
Brunswick,  and  Brigadiers  Gall  and  Specht.  A  heavy 
train  of  artillery  was  the  lieutenant-general's  chief  reli- 
ance, destined  to  become  a  principal  cause  of  his  mishaps. 
A  few  Canadians  and  a  crowd  of  painted  Indians,  allured 
by  a  war  feast,  by  presents  and  hope  of  spoils,  were  his 
auxiliaries.  These  he  addressed,  enjoining  them  to  abstain 
from  bloodshed,  when  not  opposed  in  arms — to  hold  sa- 
cred the  aged  and  young — promising  reward  for  prisoners, 
but  punishment  for  scalps. 

An  aged  Iroquois  assured  him  his  commands  would  be 
obeyed.  "  We  have  been  tried  and  tempted  by  the  Bos- 
tonians,*  but  we  have  loved  our  father,  and  our  hatchets 
have  been  sharpened  on  our  affections."  A  detachment 
of  rangers  and  a  few  Indians  under  Colonel  St.  Leger 
were  ordered  to  penetrate  by  Oswego  to  the  Mohawk, 
capture  and  hold  Fort  Schuyler  at  the  head  of  its  boat 
navigation,  and  thence,  reinforced  by  Sir  John  Johnson 
with  his  numerous  adherents,  to  join  Burgoyne  with  the 
main  body,  when  arrived  at  Albany. 

Burgoyne,  whose  pride  of  pen  was  a  besetting  vanity, 
issued  a  manifesto,  suasive  to  those  who  should  renounce 
their  erring  disloyalty,  menacing  the  contumacious  with 
the  horrors  of  civilized  and  savage  warfare.  Neither  his 
pomp  of  style  nor  his  array  of  arms  affected  the  hardy 
borderers,  confiding  in  their  mountains  and  morasses,  their 

*  Alluding  to  the  mission  of  the  previous  year  by  Congress. 


<ET.  20.]  HAMILTON.  231 

wooded  defiles  and  unerring  rifles  for  their  protection. 
Affright  was  soon  to  take  place  of  this  confidence. 

Ticorideroga  was  directly  in  his  path.  Here  was  St. 
Clair,  a  native  of  Scotland,  who  had  served  under  Wolfe, 
behaved  well  at  Trenton  and  Princeton,  and  was  recently 
raised  to  the  rank  of  major-general,  with  a  garrison  of 
Americans  consisting  of  thirty-three  hundred  men,  of 
whom  one-third  were  unfit  for  duty,  "  many  of  them  mere 
boys,"  "  naked  and  ill  armed,  not  above  one  bayonet  to 
every  tenth  man."  * 

Yet  this  post  had  been  the  care  of  the  States.  Its 
capture  had  been  hailed  with  rapturous  joy  as  among  the 
earliest  triumphs  of  the  revolution.  Prodigies  of  labor 
had  been  applied  to  give  it  strength.  It  was  the  barred 
door  to  Canada,  and  must  be  defended  at  every  hazard. 

Hither,  on  tidings  of  Burgoyne's  advance,  Schuyler 
instantly  repaired.  Relying  too  much  upon  its  artificial 
strength,  and  overlooking  its  disadvantage  of  position,  he 
returned  to  Fort  George,  forwarded  provisions  and  addi- 
tional workmen  from  the  upper  shores  of  the  Hudson, 
hoping  a  repulse  if  it  were  attacked,  but  believing  the 
enemy,  deterred  from  the  attempt,  would  move  upon  the 
eastern  States.  That  they  would  endeavor,  without  taking 
this  fort,  to  penetrate  to  Albany,  he  thought  almost  "  im- 
possible." 

But  this  important  post  required  a  numerous  garrison 
to  man  it.  That  of  St.  Clair  was  wholly  inadequate. 
Only  twenty  days  had  elapsed  since  he  took  the  com- 
mand. He  saw  his  danger.  "  Should  the  enemy  invest 
and  blockade  us,  we  are  infallibly  ruined.  *  *  *  Nor 
do  I  see  that  a  retreat  will  in  any  shape  be  practicable." 
It  was  entirely  commanded  by  a  precipitous  height  which, 
while  extending  their  lines  of  investment,  was  scaled  by 

*  Letter  of  St.  Clair,  July  9,  at  Manchester. 


THE   EEPUBLIC  [1777. 

the  British.  The  neglect  to  fortify  this  eminence  is  the 
more  remarkable,  as,  in  the  preceding  year  when  Gates 
was  in  command,  Arnold  and  Wayne  had  clambered  to 
its  top,  pronounced  it  accessible,  and  communicated  to 
him  the  fact.*  Though  this  was  known  to  Gates,  he  took 
no  measures  to  occupy  it  ,with  a  small  battery,  but  wrote 
to  Congress  that  "  the  works  were  in  the  best  order,  the 
boom  and  bridge  of  communication  finished,  and  every 
necessary  preparation  for  defence  made." 

The  case  was  now  desperate.  St.  Clair,  confirmed  in 
his  opinion  by  a  council  of  officers,  resolved  to  evacuate 
a  place  no  longer  tenable.  An  immediate  retreat  ere 
break  of  day  was  ordered.  On  the  sixth  of  July,  the 
water  force  with  the  artillery  and  stores  proceeded  to 
Skenesborough,  now  Whitehall,  and  were  captured. 
Thither  also  St.  Clair  was  about  to  march,  but  anticipated 
by  the  enemy,  he  was  compelled  to  abandon  his  purpose, 
and  he  retreated  by  a  circuitous  route,  in  search  of  pro- 
visions, of  six  days'  march  through  Vermont  to  Fort  Ed- 
ward, his  rear  guard  retarded  by  a  brisk  engagement. 

Schuyler,  astounded  at  this  unexpected  reverse,  wrote 
in  the  month  of  July  to  Washington  from  Fort  Edward. 
"  I  am  here  at  the  head  of  a  handful  of  men,  not  above 
fifteen  hundred,  without  provisions,  little  ammunition,  not 
above  five  rounds  to  a  man,  having  neither  ball  nor  lead 
to  make  any ;  the  country  in  the  deepest  consternation, 
no  carriages  to  move  the  stores  from  Lake  George,  which 
I  expect  every  moment  to  learn  is  attacked.  And  what 
adds  to  my  distress  is,  that  a  report  prevails  that  I  had 
given  orders  for  the  evacuation  of  Ticonderoga,  whereas 
not  th?  most  distant  hint  of  such  an  intention  can  be 
drawn  from  any  of  my  letters  to  General  St.  Clair  or  any 
other  person  whatever.  What  could  induce  the  general 

*  Trumbull's  Autobiography,  p.  31,  32. 


£ET.  20.]  HAMILTON.  233 

officers  to  a  step  that  has  ruined  our  affairs  in  this  quarter, 
God  only  knows." 

On  receiving  advices  of  these  events,  Colonel  Hamil- 
ton, in  the  name  of  Washington,  wrote  from  head-quar- 
ters at  Pompton  to  Putnam  : 

"  In  consequence  of  the  disagreeable  event  which  has 
taken  place  in  the  evacuation  of  Ticonderoga  and  Fort 
Independence,  though  our  situation  does  not  make  it  pru- 
dent to  send  on  any  considerable  reinforcements  immedi- 
ately, besides  those  already  gone,  yet  it  is  necessary  we 
should  be  preparing  to  throw  them  in  when  it  can  be 
more  safely  done,  and  the  true  state  of  affairs  in  that  quar- 
ter is  more  clearly  unfolded.  I  have  therefore  to  desire 
you  will  order  General  Glover  to  hold  his  brigade  in  con- 
stant readiness  to  embark  at  a  moment's  warning ;  and, 
at  the  same  time,  that  you  will  collect  at  your  post,  as  fast 
as  possible,  a  sufficient  number  of  vessels  to  transport 
them  with  their  baggage,  tents,  &c.,  to  Albany. 

"  You  will  also  send  forward  immediately  some  active, 
trusty  officer,  to  meet  such  detachments  as  may  be  com- 
ing on,  belonging  to  the  regiments  that  compose  General 
Nixon's  brigade,  with  orders  if  he  meets  them  where  they 
can  be  sent  by  a  short  route,  and  in  an  expeditious  man- 
ner to  join  their  corps,  to  hasten  them  on  accordingly, 
without  letting  them  come  to  Peekskill.  But  such  as  he 
may  find  so  far  advanced  towards  it  as  to  render  it  more 
conducive  to  despatch,  to  come  on  and  to  go  thence  by 
water,  he  is  to  make  them  continue  their  march  with  all 
speed,  and  on  their  arrival  with  you,  you  are  without  the 
least  loss  of  time  to  forward  them  to  their  regiments. 

"  I  mean  that  you  should  act  in  this  in  the  manner  best 
calculated,  according  to  circumstances,  to  answer  the  end 
of  their  joining  the  corps  they  belong  to  with  the  greatest 
expedition  possible. 


234  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1T77. 

"  I  have  determined  that  ten  field-pieces,  with  the 
necessary  apparatus,  shall  be  sent  on  from  your  post  to 
General  Schuyler.  General  Knox  will  send  up  an  officer 
with  particular  directions  about  them.  You  will  be 
pleased  to  give  every  assistance  requisite  to  the  forward- 
ing them  with  dispatch. 

"  I  have  just  received  intelligence  that  General  Howe's 
army  is  nearly  all  embarked.  They  will  certainly  pro- 
ceed very  soon  to  the  place  of  their  destination.  Our 
misfortune  to  the  northward  makes  it  of  the  last  impor- 
tance you  should  take  every  precaution  to  avoid  one  at 
your  post,  which  could  not  fail  to  produce  consequences 
almost,  if  not  entirely,  irremediable.  As  a  very  material 
step  towards  this,  I  would  recommend  to  you  to  contract 
the  points  of  defence,  and  secure  your  flanks  and  rear  as 
much  as  possible,  by  stopping  up  all  roads  by  which  you 
are  accessible  in  any  part,  that  are  not  absolutely  neces- 
sary to  keep  open  your  communication  with  the  country 
from  whence  you  draw  your  supplies.  Attend  particu- 
larly to  the  cross-roads  leading  from  the  valley  on  the 
right  of  the  great  road  leading  from  Peekskill  to  Fishkill 
into  that  road,  and  do  not  content  yourself  with  slight 
impediments  easily  removed ;  but  endeavor  to  make  them 
effectual.  Be  attentive  also  to  the  roads  that  lead  from 
Croton  by  the  way  of  Danbury  or  elsewhere  towards 
Fishkill.  The  fewer  the  avenues  of  approach  to  you,  the 
more  certain  the  judgment  you  can  form  of  the  enemy's 
intentions  and  operations,  the  more  easily  you  can  adapt 
your  measures  to  them,  and  the  greater  will  be  your  force 
at  the  place  of  attack." 

Colonel  Hamilton  also  wrote  to  Schuyler  in  the  name 
of  Washington,  who  was  pressing  on  to  the  Highlands,  in- 
forming him  of  the  supplies  sent  forward,  commenting 
with  much  solicitude  on  the  fete  of  St.  Clair,  of  whom  no 


HAMILTON.  235 

advices  had  been  received,  and  urging  him,  as  difficulties 
grew,  to  greater  efforts.  He  also  requested  Congress  to 
order  Arnold  to  join  Schuyler.  "  I  need  not  enlarge,"  he 
wrote,  "  upon  the  well  known  activity,  conduct  and 
bravery  of  General  Arnold.  The  proofs  he  has  given  of 
all  three  have  gained  him  the  confidence  of  the  public  and 
of  the  army,  the  eastern  troops  in  particular." 

This  soldier,  whose  story,  had  he  possessed  virtue 
equal  to  his  genius  and  his  courage,  would  have  filled 
some  of  the  most  brilliant  pages  in  the  history  of  the 
revolution,  had  been  only  requited  for  his  great  services 
by  greater  wrongs. 

His  gallantry  in  the  capture  of  Ticonderoga  and 
Crown  Point,  his  expedition  through  the  wilderness  to 
Quebec,  his  conduct  and  wound  in  its  assault,  his  roman- 
tic resource  and  daring  on  Lake  George,  seemed  to  have 
made  no  impression  upon  Congress. 

In  the  first  appointments  of  major-generals  after  these 
achievements,  five  officers,  juniors  in  rank,  one  only  an 
officer  of  militia,  were  elevated  to  that  station.  Arnold 
was  unnoticed.  Washington  felt  the  undeserved  injury, 
and  wrote  him  a  soothing  letter,  promising  his  interposi- 
tion. It  failed  of  success,  for  the  alleged  reason,  that  each 
State  claimed  the  number  of  general  officers  proportioned 
to  the  troops  it  furnished,  and  Connecticut  having  two, 
there  was  no  vacancy.* 

This  was  a  policy  early  condemned  by  the  delegates 
from  the  southern  States,  who  avowed  and  acted  upon 
the  principle  of  removing  the  "  attachment  of  the  officers 

*  W.  to  R.  H.  Lee  :  "  I  am  anxious  to  know  whether  General  Arnold's 
non-promotion  was  owing  to  accident  or  design,  and  the  cause  of  it.  Surely  a 
more  active,  a  more  spirited,  and  sensible  officer,  fills  no  department  in  your 
army.  It  is  not  to  be  presumed  (being  the  oldest  brigadier)  that  he  will  con- 
tLiuj  iu  the  service  under  such  a  slight." 


"36  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

and  men  to  their  respective  colonies,"  and  making  "  them 
look  up  to  the  continent  at  large  for  their  support  or  pro- 
motion." * 

In  this  policy  Washington  concurred.  I  confess,"  he 
wrote  to  Arnold,  "  this  is  a  strange  mode  of  reasoning, 
but  it  may  show  you,  that  the  promotion  which  was  due 
to  your  seniority,  was  not  overlooked  for  want  of  merit." 

On  his  way  to  Congress  to  obtain  redress,  the  incur- 
sion to  Danbury  gave  him  another  opportunity  to  exhibit 
his  prowess.  Congress  now  bestowed  upon  him  the  com- 
mission he  claimed,  but  left  him,  in  its  date,  below  the  five 
generals  who  had  been  promoted  before  him.  Again 
Washington  interposed,  offering  him  a  command  upon  the 
Hudson  as  a  special  mark  of  confidence.  This  he  declined, 
and  proceeding  to  Philadelphia  demanded  an  investigation 
into  his  conduct.  The  result  was  a  declaration  by  the 
Board  of  War  that  he  had  been  "  cruelly  and  groundlessly 
aspersed."  Their  report  was  approved,  but  his  rank  was 
not  restored.  An  unpleasant  question  of  his  accounts 
arose,  and  while  they  were  yet  unsettled,  he  was  called 
by  Washington  to  the  aid  of  Schuyler.  "  Waiving,"  as 
Washington  stated,  "  for  the  present  all  disputes  about 
rank,"  he  proceeded  instantly  on  his  way. 

On  the  twenty-second  of  July  Schuyler  was  told  : 
"From  your  accounts,  he"  (Burgoyne)  "appears  to  be 
pursuing  that  line  of  conduct,  which  of  all  others  is  most 
favorable  to  us ;  /  mean  acting  in  detachment.  This  con- 
duct will  certainly  give  room  for  enterprise  on  our  part,  and 
expose  his  parties  to  great  hazard.  Could  we  be  so  happy, 
as  to  cut  one  of  them  off",  supposing  it  should  not  exceed 
four,  five,  or  six  hundred  men,  it  would  inspirit  the  people, 
and  do  away  much  of  their  present  anxiety.  In  such 
an  event,  they  would  lose  sight  of  past  misfortunes,  and, 

*  Letter  of  Sam.  Ward,  Nov.  21.  1775. 


MT.  20.]  HAMILTON.'  337 

urged  at  the  same  time  by  a  regard  for  their  own  se- 
curity, they  would  fly  to  arms  and  afford  every  aid  in 
their  power." 

On  the  same  day  Colonel  Hamilton  wrote  him  in 
Washington's  name  :  "  Since  mine  of  this  date  I  have 
come  to  a  resolution  to  send  you  a  further  reinforcement, 
in  order  the  more  effectually  to  enable  you  to  give  the 
enemy  a  seasonable  check,  and  have  accordingly  directed 
General  Putnam  immediately  to  forward  General  Glover's 
brigade  to  you."  He  added  that  every  tent  that  could 
possibly  be  spared  would  be  sent.  "You  may  depend 
upon  having  every  supply  you  want  which  it  is  by  any 
means  in  my  power  to  afford." 

At  the  same  time,  Hamilton  wrote  to  Gouverneur 
Morris,  who  had  recently  visited  Fort  Edward.  To  this 
post  great  importance  had  been  attached  during  the 
French  war.  It  was  built  of  logs  and  earth,  with  a 
deep  fosse,  at  the  junction  of  a  creek  flowing  into  the 
Hudson. 

"  Your  favor  of  the  eighteenth  from  Saratoga,  reached 
me  yesterday.  Your  pronouncing  Fort  Edward  among 
the  other  forts,  indefensible,  surprised  me  a  little,  as  it  is 
entirely  contrary  to  the  representations  of  several  gentle- 
men of  judgment  who  have  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing 
and  considering  its  situation ;  by  whom  we  have  been 
taught  to  believe  that  it  would  be  an  excellent  post,  at 
least  for  checking  and  retarding  Burgoyne's  progress.  I 
agree  with  you  that  our  principal  strength  in  the  quarter 
you  are,  will  be  in  the  forests  and  natural  strength  of  the 
country,  and  in  the  want  of  forage,  provisions,  carriages, 
etc.,  in  which  the  enemy  may  easily  be  thrown  by  taking 
away  what  there  are  of  those  articles,  which,  you  observe, 
have  never  been  in  great  abundance. 

I  am  dou'-tfu!  whether  Burgoyne  will  attempt  to  pene- 


238  THE   EEPUBLIC.  [1777 

trate  far,  and  whether  he  will  not  content  himself  with 
harassing  our  back  settlements  by  parties  assisted  by  the 
savages,  who,  it  is  to  be  feared,  will  pretty  generally  be 
tempted,  by  the  enemy's  late  successes,  to  confederate  in 
hostilities  against  us. 

"  This  doubt  arises  from  some  appearances  that  indi- 
cate a  southern  movement  of  General  Howe's  army, 
which,  if  it  should  really  happen,  will  certainly  be  a  bar- 
rier against  any  further  impressions  of  Burgoyne ;  for  it 
cannot  be  supposed  he  would  be  rash  enough  to  plunge 
into  the  bosom  of  the  country  without  an  expectation  of 
being  met  by  General  Howe.  Things  must  prove  very 
adverse  to  us  indeed,  should  he  make  such  an  attempt  and 
not  be  ruined  by  it.  I  confess,  however,  that  the  appear- 
ances I  allude  to  do  not  carry  a  full  evidence  in  my 
mind ;  because  they  are  opposed  by  others  of  a  contra- 
dictory kind  ;  and  because  I  cannot  conceive  upon  what 
principle  of  common  sense  or  military  propriety,  Howe 
can  be  running  away  from  Burgoyne  to  the  southward. 

"  It  is  much  to  be  wished  he  may,  even  though  it  should 
give  him  the  possession  of  Philadelphia,  which  by  our  re- 
moteness from  it  may  very  well  happen.  In  this  case,  we 
may  not  only,  if  we  think  proper,  retaliate  by  aiming  a 
stroke  at  New  York,  but  we  may  come  upon  him  with  the 
greatest  part  of  our  collective  force  to  act  against  that 
part  which  is  under  him.  We  shall  then  be  certain  that 
Burgoyne  cannot  proceed,  and  that  a  small  force  of  con- 
tinental troops  will  be  sufficient  for  that  partisan  war 
which  he  must  carry  on  the  rest  of  the  campaign. 

"A  small  force  will  also  be  sufficient  to  garrison  the 
posts  in  the  Highlands,  and  prevent  any  danger  there ;  so 
that  we  shall  be  able  to  bring  nearly  the  whole  of  the 
continental  army  against  Mr.  Howe.  The  advantages  of 
this  are  obvious.  Should  he  be  satisfied  with  the  splendor 


JET.  20.]  II  A  M I L  T  0  N .  239 

of  his  acquisitions,  and  shut  himself  up  in  Philadelphia, 
we  can  ruin  him  by  confinement.  Should  he  leave  a  gar- 
rison there  and  go  forward,  we  can  either  fall  upon  that 
or  his  main  body,  diminished  as  it  will  be  by  such  a  meas- 
ure, with  our  whole  force.  There  will,  however,  be 
many  disagreeable  consequences  attending  such  an  event, 
amongst  which  the  foremost  is,  the  depreciation  of  our 
currency,  which,  from  the  importance  in  which  Philadel- 
phia is  held,  cannot  fail  to  ensue." 


CHAPTER    IX. 

SCHUYLER  now  made  the  dispositions  best  adapted  to  the 
policy  of  his  situation.  He  immediately  advanced  Nixon's 
brigade  just  arrived,  supported  by  militia,  to  Fort  Anne,  a 
small  work  near  the  head  of  Wood  Creek  to  obstruct  its 
passage  and  that  of  the  road  to  Fort  Edward.  Another 
party  of  militia  he  stationed  near  Fort  George,  incom- 
plete and  indefensible,  situate  upon  an  elevation  sloping 
to  the  lake  of  that  name,  to  cover  the  retreat  of  the  gar- 
rison. These  timely  precautions  proved  of  the  utmost 
moment. 

He  wrote  to  the  president  of  Massachusetts  Bay  : 
'Should  it  be  asked  what  line  of  conduct  I  mean  to 
hold  amidst  such  a  variety  of  difficulties  and  distress, 
I  would  answer — to  dispute  every  inch  of  ground  with 
General  Burgoyne,  and  retard  his  descent  into  the  coun- 
try as  long  as  possible,  without  the  least  hope  of  being 
able  to  prevent  it  ultimately,  unless  reinforced  by  General 
Washingon  or  by  a  respectable  body  of  militia." 

On  the  same  day  Hamilton  wrote  to  him  in  behalf  of 
Washington  in  a  tone  of  provident  confidence  from  the 
head-quarters  at  Ramapaugh : 

"  I  am  sorry  that  you  have  not  yet  been  joined  by 
a  larger  number  of  militia,  and  that  it  has  been  found 


^T.  20.]  HAMILTON. 

necessary  to  dismiss  a  part  even  of  those  that  have  come 
to  your  assistance,  though  their  presence  is,  at  this  time, 
so  urgently  wanted.  I  am  in  hopes,  however,  that  your 
situation  will  soon  be  more  respectable,  as  I  cannot  but 
think  the  Eastern  States  who  are  so  intimately  concerned 
in  the  matter,  will  exert  themselves  to  throw  in  effectual 
succors  to  enable  you  to  check  the  progress  of  the  enemy, 
and  repel  a  danger  with  which  they  are  so  immediately 
threatened.  I  informed  you  in  a  letter  of  the  23d  that  J 
had  ordered  a  further  reinforcement  in  General  Glover's 
brigade  to  be  dispatched  to  you.  This  is  all  the  aid  in 
continental  troops  that  I  can  possibly  afford  you  in  the 
present  state  of  affairs,  which  you  will  be  sensible  is  the 
case  if  you  will  endeavor  to  form  an  idea  of  my  strength 
from  a  consideration  of  that  of  the  two  brigades  which 
have  been  sent  to  reinforce  you.  You  may  make  a  toler- 
ably exact  estimate  from  them  of  the  force  I  have  to  op- 
pose the  enemy's  main  army  ;  and  you  will  plainly  per- 
ceive that  I  cannot  with  the  least  propriety  render  it  less, 
however  strong  my  inclinations  to  put  you  upon  the  foot- 
ing you  desire. 

"  You  seem  to  apprehend  that  the  artillery  sent  up  to 
you  will  be  useless  from  a  want  of  a  sufficient  number  of 
hands  to  manage  them  ;  but  I  see  no  reason  to  imagine 
this  will  be  the  case,  as  by  your  last  return,  including 
non-commissioned  officers,  you  will  have  nearly  twelve 
men  to  each  piece,  which  are  as  many  as  we  make  use  of 
here,  and  are  sufficient  for  the  purpose.  Not  more  than 
six  artillerists  are  required  to  load  and  fire  a  piece  in  ac- 
tion, and  you  will  have  six  others  to  each  to  make  good 
any  loss  that  may  happen.  For  the  crag-ropes  and  for 
any  thing  else,  besides  loading  and  firing,  active  men 
drafted  from  the  batalions  will  answer  extremely  well ; 
and  a  very  few  days  are  necessary,  if  diligence  is  used,  to 
VOL.  I.— 16 


242  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

make  men,  tolerably  intelligent,  capable  of  performing 
every  part  of  a  private  artillerist. 

"  The  information  of  the  prisoners  and  others,  trans- 
mitted to  you,  do  not  make  the  numbers  of  the  enemy  to 
exceed  the  ideas  first  entertained  of  them,  nor  do  I  see 
any  thing  in  it  to  induce  a  belief  that  their  progress  will  be 
so  rapid  as  not  to  give  you  time  to  make  proper  prepara- 
tions, and  receive  sufficient  accessions  of  force  to  enable 
you  to  give  them  a  vigorous  and  successful  opposition. 
They  do  not  appear  to  be  much  more  than  five  thousand 
strong,  and  seem  to  be  unprovided  with  waggons  to  trans- 
port the  immense  quantity  of  baggage  and  warlike  appa- 
ratus, without  which  they  cannot  pretend  to  penetrate 
the  country.  You  mention  their  having  a  great  number 
of  horses,  but  they  will  nevertheless  require  a  consider- 
able number  of  waggons,  for  there  are  a  great  many 
things  that  cannot  be  transported  on  horses.  As  they 
can  never  think  of  advancing  without  securing  their  rear, 
by  leaving  garrisons  in  the  fortresses  behind,  the  force 
with  which  they  can  come  against  you  will  be  greatly 
reduced  by  the  detachments  necessary  for  the  purpose. 
And  as  they  have  to  cut  out  the  road  and  remove  impedi- 
ments you  have  put  in  the  way,  this  circumstance,  with 
the  incumbrance  they  must  feel  in  their  baggage,  stores, 
&c.,  will  inevitably  retard  their  march  a  considerable 
time,  and  give  you  leisure  and  opportunity  to  prepare  a 
good  reception  for  them.  If  they  continue  to  act  in  de- 
tachments, you  will  have  it  in  your  power  to  improve  it 
to  the  very  greatest  advantage,  by  falling  vigorously  upon 
some  one  of  them  with  your  whole  force,  which,  if  you 
are  fortunate  enough  to  succeed  in,  will  be  fatal  to  them. 

"  I  have  directed  General  Lincoln  to  repair  to  you  as 
speedily  as  the  state  of  his  health,  which  is  not  very  per- 
fect, will  permit  him.  This  gentleman  has  always  sup- 


^T.  20.]  HAMILTON.  243 

ported  the  character  of  a  judicious,  brave,  active  officer, 
and  as  he  is  exceedingly  popular  and  much  respected  in 
the  State  of  Massachusetts  to  which  he  belongs,  he  will 
have  a  degree  of  influence  over  the  militia,  which  cannot 
fail  being  advantageous.  I  have  destined  him  more  par- 
ticularly to  the  command  of  them,  and  I  promise  myself 
it  will  have  a  powerful  tendency  to  make  them  turn  out 
with  more  cheerfulness,  and  to  inspire  them  with  perse- 
verance to  remain  in  the  field,  and  fortitude  and  spirit  to 
do  their  duty  while  in  it.  The  confidence  they  have  in 
him  will  certainly  go  a  great  way  towards  producing  these 
desirable  ends.  You  intimate  the  propriety  of  having  a 
body  of  men  stationed  somewhere  about  the  Grants.  The 
expediency  of  such  a  measure  appears  to  me  evident ;  for 
it  would  certainly  make  General  Burgoyne  very  circum- 
spect in  his  advances,  if  it  did  not  totally  prevent  them. 
It  would  keep  him  in  continual  anxiety  for  his  rear,  oblige 
him  to  leave  the  posts  behind  him  much  stronger  than  he 
would  otherwise  do  ;  and  would  answer  other  very  valu- 
able purposes.  General  Lincoln  could  not  be  more  ser- 
viceable than  in  command  of  this  body,  and  no  person 
could  be  more  proper  for  it  than  he. 

"  From  the  view  I  have  of  the  matter  I  should  also 
think  it  necessary  to  send  General  Arnold,  or  some  other 
sensible,  spirited  officer  to  Fort  Schuyler,  to  take  care  of 
that  post,  keep  up  the  spirit  of  the  inhabitants,  and  cul- 
tivate and  improve  the  favorable  disposition-  of  the  In- 
dians. This  is  recommended  on  the  supposition  that  any 
thing  favorable  should  appear  in  that  quarter." 

Colonel  Hamilton  at  this  time  received  a  letter  from 
his  early  friend  Dr.  Knox,  written  at  Santa  Cruz,  who 
observed  :  "  You  must  be  the  annalist  and  biographer,  as 
well  as  the  aide-de-camp  of  General  Washington,  and  the 
historiographer  of  the  American  war.  *  *  *  This 


244  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777- 

may  be  a  new  and  strange  thought  to  you:  but  if  you 
survive  the  present  troubles,  I  aver,  few  men  will  be  as 
well  qualified  to  write  the  history  of  the  present  glorious 
struggle."  A  fragment  of  his  answer  is  preserved. 
"  This  event,"  (the  evacuation  of  Ticonderoga,)  he  wrote. 
"  redounds  very  little  to  our  credit.  For  if  the  post  was 
untenable,  or  required  a  larger  number  of  troops  to  de- 
fend it  than  could  be  spared  for  that  purpose,  it  ought  long 
ago  to  have  been  foreseen  and  given  up.  Instead  of  that 
we  have  kept  a  large  quantity  of  cannon  in  it,  and  have 
been  heaping  up  very  valuable  magazines  of  stores  and 
provisions,  that,  in  the  critical  moment  of  defence  are 
abandoned  and  lost.  This  affair  will  be  attended  with 
several  evil  consequences ;  for  besides  the  loss  of  our 
stores,  which  we  cannot  well  afford,  it  opens  a  new  and 
easy  door  by  which  to  penetrate  the  Northern  States.  It 
will  fix  the  hitherto  fluctuating  disposition  of  the  Indians 
in  that  quarter  in  their  favor,  and  expose  the  frontiers  of 
the  adjacent  country  to  their  depredations.  But  though 
it  is  a  misfortune  we  have  reason  to  lament,  I  dare  say  it 
will  be  regarded  with  you  as  much  more  important  than 
it  really  is,  and  as  materially  endangering  the  success  of 
our  cause,  which  is  by  no  means  the  case.  Our  opposi- 
tion is  at  this  time  too  well  matured  and  has  too  great 
stability,  to  be  shaken  by  an  accident  of  that  kind.  While 
we  have  a  respectable  army  in  the  field,  and  resources  to 
feed,  clothe  and  arm  them,  we  are  safe.  We  have  had  a 
force  sufficient  for  the  foregoing  part  of  the  campaign,  to 
maintain  such  a  superiority  over  the  main  army  of  the 
enemy  as  effectually  to  hinder  them  from  attaining  any  of 
their  purposes.  And,  to  the  northward,  with  the  rein- 
forcements sent  up  to  succor  the  retreating  garrison  of 
Ticonderoga,  and  the  militia  flocking  in  from  New  Eng- 
land, I  think  there  is  little  doubt  we  have  by  this  time  a 


JiT.  20.1  HAMILTON.  245 

force  adequate  to  give  Mr.  Burgoyne  a  seasonable  check. 
One  good  effect  will  result  from  the  misfortune,  which  is, 
that  it  will  stimulate  the  Eastern  States  to  greater  exer- 
tions than  they  might  otherwise  make.  By  our  last  ad- 
vices, the  enemy  were  in  possession  of  all  the  country  be- 
tween Ticonderoga  and  Fort  George;  and  our  army, 
nearly  equal  in  number  to  them,  were  about  to  take  post 
somewhere  between  Fort  Edward  and  Saratoga.  The 
consequences  of  this  northern  affair  will  depend  much 
upon  the  part  that  Howe  acts.  If  he  were  to  co-operate 
with  Burgoyne  it  would  demand  our  utmost  efforts  to 
counteract  them.  But  if  he  should  go  towards  the  south- 
ward, all  or  most  of  the  advantages  of  Burgoyne's  suc- 
cess will  be  lost.  He  will  either  be  obliged  to  content 
himself  with  the  possession  of  Ticonderoga  and  the  de- 
pendent fortresses,  and  with  carrying  on  a  partisan  war 
the  rest  of  the  campaign,  or  he  must  precipitate  himself 
into  certain  ruin  by  attempting  to  advance  into  the  coun- 
try with  a  very  incompetent  force." 

Hamilton,  over  the  signature  of  Washington,  now 
wrote  to  General  Heath  at  Boston :  "  The  British  fleet 
sailed  out  of  Sandy  Hook  the  twenty-third  instant.  The 
prevailing,  and  perhaps  the  most  probable  opinion  is,  that 
they  are  destined  for  Philadelphia.  But  it  is  not  impossi- 
ble they  may  intend  for  the  eastward.  Proper  attention 
to  this  should  not  be  wanting.  But  the  bare  possibility  of 
it  must  not  prevent  your  forwarding  the  remaining  conti- 
nental recruits  to  their  respective  regiments  with  all  the 
diligence  you  can.  The  urgency  of  the  occasion  to  the 
northward  indispensably  calls  for  them.  I  am  sorry  to 
say,  that,  had  the  Eastern  States,  all  of  them,  taken  effec- 
tual measures  to  fill  and  send  on  expeditiously  their  sev- 
eral quotas,  the  misfortune  of  Ticonderoga  could  not  have 
happened.  But  I  have  the  consolation  to  reflect  that  1 


246  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

have  used  the  most  pressing  and  repeated  instances  to 
induce  them  to  do  it." 

The  next  day  Hamilton  wrote  a  private  letter  to  Gou- 
verneur  Morris  from  head-quarters  at  Coryell's  Ferry. 

From  a  minute  examination  of  the  probable  strength 
of  Burgoyne,  he  concluded  that  he  could  not  "  advance 
after  taking  the  necessary  precautions  in  his  rear,  with 
more  than  between  five  and  six  thousand  men,  supposing 
him  to  act  with  his  whole  collective  force,  except  Cana- 
dians and  Indians,  not  by  any  means  numerous." 

He  then  took  a  view  of  the  American  force  under 
Schuyler,  which,  with  Glover's  brigade  and  the  recruits 
would  amount  to  five  thousand  continentals.  "  Surely," 
he  observed,  "  the  Eastern  States  cannot  sleep  so  soundly 
when  the  danger  is  so  imminent,  but  they  will  reinforce 
him  with  eight  or  ten  thousand  militia.  If  this  happens, 
and  he  cannot  stop  General  Burgoyne's  progress,  it  must 
proceed  from  other  causes  than  the  want  of  men.  Gen- 
eral Washington  kept  Howe  with  sixteen  or  seventeen 
thousand  men  at  bay. 

"  Perhaps  it  may  be  said  there  will  not  be  time  to  collect 
this  force,  as  the  enemy  are  advancing  with  very  great 
rapidity.  I  am  much  mistaken  if  there  will  not  be  abun- 
dant time.  The  nature  of  the  ground,  the  difficulty  of 
transporting  the  immense  quantity  of  bagage,  provisions, 
<fcc.,  necessary  to  accompany  an  army  of  five  thousand 
men  penetrating  an  enemy's  country ;  the  want  of  wag- 
gons for  the  purpose ;  the  impediments  thrown  in  their 
way  by  cutting  off  the  roads — all  these  obstacles  will  re- 
tard their  march  much  more  than  is  at  first  sight  imagined, 
and  will  give  full  time  to  prepare  them  a  good  reception. 

"  On  the  whole,  I  am  clearly  of  opinion,  that  unless 
Howe  co-operates  with  Burgoyne  against  your  State,  it 
has  very  little  to  fear ;  and  I  even  doubt  if  he  goes  to  the 


yET.  20.]  HAMILTON. 

southward  whether  Burgoyne  will  attempt  to  penetrate 
far.  At  present  there  is  every  appearance  of  a  southern 
expedition.  Seventy  sail  of  the  enemy's  fleet  have  been 
seen  passing  by  Little  Egg  Harbor,  making  short  tacks 
towards  the  capes  of  Philadelphia.  Three  divisions  of  the 
army  are  arrived  here  and  at  Howel's  Ferry,  four  miles 
up.  One  is  coming  on  by  way  of  Princeton,  &c.  Ano- 
ther coming  after  us  by  way  of  Morristown  I  wish  this 
last  to  halt  there.  Two  brigades  more  had  been  ordered 
to  cross  the  North  River,  and  wait  further  orders.  We 
shall  not,  however,  pass  the  Delaware  till  we  hear  of  the 
arrival  of  the  enemy  in  the  capes  of  Philadelphia.  Nor 
will  those  two  brigades  be  ordered  on  till  the  same  event 
takes  place.  We  shall  act  the  most  cautious  part  possible 
in  our  circumstances.  I  communicated  your  letter  to  the 
general.  He  agrees  with  me  in  point  of  the  enemy's 
numbers.  With  respect  to  animating  the  Eastern  States, 
he  has  written  the  most  urgent  letter  to  their  several  as- 
semblies, which,  I  am  in  hopes,  will  answer  the  end  you 
propose  from  sending  persons  to  each  of  them. 

"  It  were  to  be  wished  your  forts  and  ships  were  well 
supplied  with  cannon,  but  it  is  wholly  out  of  the  general's 
line  to  strip  the  ships  to  the  eastward  of  their  cannon  for 
that  purpose.  If  your  convention  were  to  make  applica- 
tion to  the  Congress  or  Board  of  War,  it  might  succeed ; 
but  I  should  have  very  little  hope  of  it." 

Two  days  after,*  he  wrote  to  Putnam  for  Washington 
stating  that  the  enemy's  fleet  had  sailed  out  of  the  capes 
in  an  eastern  course.  "  This  surprising  event  gives  me 
the  greatest  anxiety,  and,  unless  every  possible  exertion 
is  made,  may  be  productive  of  the  happiest  consequences 
to  the  enemy  and  the  most  injurious  to  us.  I  have  desired 
General  Sullivan's  division  and  two  brigades  that  left  you 

*  August  1. 


248  rilE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

last,  immediately  to  return  and  recross  the  river,  and  shall 
forward  on  the  rest  of  the  army  with  all  the  expedition  in 
my  power.  1  have  also  written  General  Clinton  request- 
ing him  instantly  to  reinforce  you  with  as  many  militia  of 
the  State  of  New  York  as  he  can  collect,  and  you  are,  on 
the  receipt  of  this,  to  send  on  an  express  to  Governor 
Trumhull,  urging  it  upon  him  to  assist  you,  with  as  many 
of  the  Connecticut  militia  as  he  can  get  together,  and 
without  a  moment's  loss  of  time.  The  importance  of  pre- 
venting Mr.  Howe's  getting  possession  of  the  Highlands 
by  a  coup  de  main  is  infinite  to  America ;  and  in  the  pre- 
sent situation  of  things  every  effort  that  can  be  thought  o< 
must  be  used.  The  probability  of  his  going  to  the  east- 
ward is  exceedingly  small,  and  the  ill  effects  that  might 
attend  such  a  step  inconsiderable  in  comparison  with  those 
that  would  inevitably  attend  a  successful  stroke  upon 
the  Highlands.  Connecticut  cannot  be  in  more  dangei 
through  any  channel  than  this,  and  every  motive  of  its 
own  interest  and  the  general  good  demand  its  utmost 
endeavors  to  give  you  effectual  assistance.  Governor 
Trumbull  will,  I  trust,  be  sensible  of  this." 

The  uncertainties  produced  by  the  seaborne  move- 
ments of  the  British,  and  the  consequent  harassing  changes 
of  position  between  the  Hudson  and  the  Delaware  were 
not  the  only  perplexities  of  the  moment.  The  situation 
of  the  northern  frontier  was  made  more  alarming  by  the 
jealousies  which  long  had  existed  between  the  people  of 
New  York  and  New  England.  A  letter  from  the  Albany 
committee  mentions:  "Our  affairs  grow  more  gloomy 
every  day.  The  New  England  States  are  still  indifferent 
to  all  entreaty.  All  the  militia  of  Albany  are  sent  to  the 
army.  The  people  in  Schoharie  say  they  must  lay  down 
their  arms  if  Albany  falls.  Only  two  hundred  savages 
have  driven  in  the  inhabitants  within  fifty  miles.  What 


JEr.  20.]  HAMILTON.  249 

would  be  the  case  if  a  thousand  are  let  loose  ?     Trumbull 
writes  that  no  aid  is  to  be  expected  from  Connecticut." 

The  urgency  of  their  situation  is  also  shown  in  a  letter 
addressed  to  Governor  Trumbull  by  Van  Cortlandt,  pres- 
ident of  the  New  York  Council  of  Safety :  "  The  condi- 
tion of  the  northern  department  has  become  alarming  and 
critical.  The  evacuation  of  Ticonderoga  was  a  very  un- 
expected event,  and  has  been  attended  with  an  unhappy 
influence  on  our  affairs.  The  people  are  disgusted,  disap- 
pointed and  alarmed.  The  council  are  constrained  to  ob- 
serve that  it  is  not  in  their  power  to  afford  General 
Schuyler  much  aid.  Five  counties  of  this  State  are  in  the 
possession  of  the  enemy,  three  others  are  disunited  by 
malcontents  who  meditate  a  revolt,  and  are  attempting  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  present  troubles  to  advance  their 
interested  purposes,  insomuch  that  all  order  and  govern- 
ment has  ceased  among  them.  Of  the  remaining  six 
counties,  a  third  part  of  the  militia  of  three  of  them, 
namely  Orange,  Ulster  and  Dutchess,  has  been  in  actual 
service  since  May,  and  are  yet  in  the  field.  Westchester 
has  been  so  harassed  by  the  invasions  of  the  enemy  from 
New  York,  that,  during  the  last  winter  and  almost  ever 
since,  their  militia  have  been  obliged  to  provide  for  their 
own  defence.  A  third  part  of  the  county  of  Tryon  are 
ordered  to  embody  without  delay,  and  a  considerable  pro- 
portion of  Albany  are  already  marched  and  marching  to 
the  field.  Add  to  this  the  number  of  inhabitants  con- 
stantly employed  on  the  communications,  in  transporta- 
tion, &c.,  &c.,  and  the  still  greater  number  who,  tempted 
by  prospects  of  ease  or  profit,  have  quitted  this  invaded 
State,  and  sought  inglorious  quiet  among  our  more  peace- 
ful neighbors ;  and  your  excellency  will  perceive  how 
greatly  our  strength  is  exhausted.  Heaven  has  blessed  us 
with  a  plentiful  harvest,  and  it  deserves  consideration  that 


250  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

other  States,  besides  this,  will  be  affected  by  the  loss 
of  it. 

"  It  is  unnecessary  to  observe  to  your  excellency  thai 
the  destruction  of  this  State  will  bring  the  horrors  of  war 
to  the  doors  of  many  who  now  seem  idle  spectators  of  it. 
We  hope  that  the  State  of  Connecticut  will,  on  this  occa- 
sion, exert  herself  in  a  manner  becoming  the  cnaracter 
she  hath  hitherto  sustained  in  the  scale  of  American  im- 
portance, and  that  New  York  will  not  be  left  unsupported 
in  this  day  of  trial." 

"  The  characters  of  our  generals  who  were  at  Ty., 
particularly  St.  Glair's,"  writes  a  son  of  Trumbull,*  "  are 
suffering  perhaps  irretrievably.  The  minds  of  the  people 
are  much  inflamed.  Some  cry  '  Treachery,'  some  '  Cow- 
ardice,' all  blame,  not  without  too  great  reason.  My  heart 
is  full.  General  Schuyler  is  distressed  almost  to  death 
with  vexation.  Sir  John  (Johnson)  with  McKoy,  some 
regulars,  Canadians  and  savages,  are  at  Oswego  waiting 
to  be  joined  by  Butler  f  from  Niagara." 

The  council  of  Albany  prepared  a  declaration  stating 
"  the  pain  it  gave  them  to  find  that  a  measure  so  absurd 
and  probably  chimerical  as  the  surrender  of  Ticonderoga, 
should  be  imputed  to  the  directions  of  General  Schuyler, 
in  whose  zeal,  vigilance  and  integrity,"  they  expressed  the 
highest  confidence. 

The  friends  of  Schuyler  felt  the  delicacy  of  his  situa- 
tion. Jay  wrote  him  in  urgent  terms  to  cause  a  statement 
to  be  made  of  the  causes  of  that  event.  He  soon  received 
a  letter  from  St.  Clair:  "The  calumny  that  has  been 
thrown  upon  General  Schuyler,  upon  account  of  that 
matter,  has  given  me  great  uneasiness.  I  assure  you,  sir, 

*  Joseph  Trumbull. 

•J-  Walter  Butler,  colonel  of  a  party  of  rangers  in  pay  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment, and  marked  for  his  cruelty. — Ann-i'*  ofT.-jyt  V>  i.'.'j,  117. 


JET.  20.[  HAMILTON. 

there  never  was  any  thing  more  unjust  or  cruel,  for  he 
knew  nothing  of  the  matter  until  it  was  over.  It  was 
done  in  consequence  of  a  consultation  with  the  other  gen- 
eral officers  without  the  possibility  of  General  Schuyler's 
concurrence  ;  and  had  the  opinion  of  council  been  oppo- 
site to  what  it  was,  it  would  nevertheless  have  taken  place, 
as  I  knew  it  to  be  impossible  to  defend  the  post  with  our 
numbers.  *  *  *  I  proposed  to  General  Schuyler  to 
send  a  note  to  the  printer,  to  assure  the  people  that  he 
had  no  part  in  abandoning  what  they  thought  their  strong- 
hold. He  thought  it  not  so  proper  at  that  time."  *  Aware 
of  the  exasperated  state  of  feeling  towards  St.  Clair,  and 
now  apprised  of  the  necessity  of  his  retreat,  Schuyler 
preferred  temporary  obloquy  should  fall  upon  himself, 
rather  than  concentrated  hostility  towards  an  unfortunate, 
but,  blameless,  gallant,  unvindicated  fellow  soldier. 

On  the  twenty-ninth  of  July,  two  days  after  the  date 
of  St.  Clair's  letter,  Congress  resolved  an  inquiry  "  into 
the  reasons  of  the  evacuation  of  Ticonderoga,  and  into 
the  conduct  of  the  general  officers  who  were  in  the 
northern  department  at  the  time."  The  wide  compass  of 
this  inquiry  discloses  its  object.  Schuyler  was  first  or- 
dered to  repair  to  head-quarters,  and  then  a  committee  of 
inquiry  was  appointed,  composed  of  five  members,  three 
of  whom  were  from  New  England  and  a  fourth  under  its 
influence.!  Washington  was  directed  to  order  an  officer 
to  replace  him.  The  next  day,  a  letter  was  addressed  to 
him  from  the  pen  of  Samuel  Adams,  signed  by  seven 
eastern  members  of  Congress,  pressing  the  appointment 
of  Gates.  Washington  asked  "  to  be  excused  from  mak- 
ing the  appointment."  He  assigned  as  his  reasons,  "  that 

*  St.  Clair  to  Jay,  July  25,  1777. 

f  Laurens,  of  South  Carolina ;  John  Adams,  Dyer,  and  Folsom,  of  New 
England  ;  Roberdeau,  of  Pennsylvania. 


252  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

the  northern  department,  in  a  great  measure,  had  been 
considered  as  separate,  and  more  peculiarly  under  the  di- 
rection of  Congress,  that  its  present  situation  was  delicate 
and  critical,  and  the  choice  of  an  officer  to  the  command 
might  involve  very  interesting  and  important  conse- 
quences." His  impressions  as  to  Gates  had  changed ;  he 
was  reluctant  to  evince  diminished  confidence  in  Schuy- 
ler,  whose  conduct  was  unexplained. 

During  their  intercourse  in  Congress  these  two  great 
patriots  had  formed  for  each  other  a  mutual  respect  and 
confidence  proceeding  from  their  similar  traits  of  charac- 
ter— energy,  method,  an  exacting  punctuality,  an  uncom- 
promising sense  of  justice.  The  difficulties  which  the  in- 
subordination of  the  Connecticut  troops  had  caused  on 
the  northern  frontier,  Washington  is  seen  to  have  felt  in 
his  own  immediate  command.  As  Montgomery  had  be- 
fore written,  he  also  wrote  from  Cambridge  to  a  colonel 
of  the  Virginia  line :  "  I  earnestly  recommend  to  you  to 
be  circumspect  in  your  choice  of  officers.  Take  none  but 
gentlemen.  Recollect  that  no  instance  has  yet  happened 
of  good  or  bad  behavior  in  a  corps  in  our  service  that  has 
not  originated  with  the  officers." 

Schuyler  had  seen  the  ill  effects  which  the  jealousies 
of  the  colonial  troops  had  produced  in  the  recent  war  with 
France.  In  the  controversy  as  to  the  disputed  lands  of 
New  York  and  New  Hampshire,  he  had  taken  a  conspic- 
uous, decided  part.  While  asserting  the  rights  of  New 
York  in  his  direct  mode,  he  probably  partook  of  the  pre- 
judices of  that  colony,  and  encountered  the  prejudices  of 
its  eastern  neighbors.  The  extent  to  which  these  had 
proceeded  towards  him  has  been  shown.  He  was  re- 
garded as  the  type  of  the  Dutch  population,  between 
-•vhom  and  the  "  Yankees,"  as  they  called  them,  these  long- 
cherished  prejudices  had  risen  to  antipathy.  The  pos- 


JET.  20.]  HAMILTON.  353 

sessors  of  the  fertile  alluvials  of  the  Mohawk  believed  the 
eastern  people,  from  their  hard,  bleak  hills,  were  looking 
towards  them  with  too  inquiring  eyes.  Their  enterprise 
pressing  upon  them  in  every  direction,  threatened  not 
merely  loss  of  property,  but  an  inroad  upon  their  ancient, 
habits  and  a  subversion  of  their  ancient  institutions.  All 
threatened  to  be  new,  all  was  to  be  changed  to  a  people 
most  averse  to  change.  They  hated  the  restless  energy 
they  could  not  withstand,  and  shrank  from  a  cleverness 
with  which  they  could  not  cope.  Their  pride  also  was 
roused.  They  were  indignant  at  the  influence  which 
would  supplant  their  much  loved  chief  to  make  room  for 
one  whose  capacity  the  discerning  denied,  and  whom 
many  regarded  with  aversion.  "  General  Gates,"  the  New 
York  delegates  wrote,  "  is  far  from  partial  to  our  State. 
You  cannot  be  at  a  loss  for  the  reason.  Our  revolters 
seem  to  possess  his  esteem,  and  he  has  left  a  most  extra- 
ordinary recommendation  in  their  favor." 

On  the  fourth  of  August,  the  day  after  Washington 
declined  to  select  an  officer  for  the  northern  department, 
Gates  was  elected  to  its  command  by  Congress.  "  Gen- 
eral Schuyler,"  Duane  wrote,  "  to  humor  the  eastern  peo- 
ple, who  declare  that  their  militia  will  not  fight  under  him, 
is  recalled."  Gouverneur  Morris,  who  with  Jay  had  hast- 
ened to  Philadelphia,  wrote  to  Schuyler :  "  So  confident 
were  they "  (the  eastern  members)  "  in  their  assertions 
that  their  militia  would  not  turn  out  while  you  presided, 
and  such,  from  your  own  representation,  was  the  gloomy 
aspect  of  our  affairs  there,  that  the  southern  members 
were  alarmed,  and  thought  it  prudent  not  to  attempt  to 
stem  the  torrent."  *  Schuyler  answered,  "  my  crime  con- 

*  "  That  the  hostility  to  Schuyler  did  not  proceed  from  his  imputed  mis- 
conduct in  respect  to  Ticonderoga,  is  shown  by  a  letter  of  Samuel  Adams  tc 
John  Adams,  dated  Baltimore,  .Ian.  1777,  six  months  previous  to  its  capture: 


254  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777 

sists  in  not  being  a  New  England  man  in  principle,  and 
unless  they  alter  theirs,  I  hope  I  never  shall  be.  General 
Gates  is  their  idol,  because  he  is  at  their  discretion." 

Governor  Clinton  writes,  "  Connecticut  and  Massachu- 
setts have  not  furnished  a  man  for  the  southern  depart- 
ment ;  nay,  scarcely  answered  the  letters  sent  to  them. 
General  Gates  is  ordered  to  the  command  of  the  northern 
army,  and  General  Schuyler  to  join  General  Washington. 
The  New  England  men  will  now  be  gratified,  and  ought 
to  turn  out,  but  I  fear  they  will  riot  behave  better  under 
any  command.  The  New  York  militia  have  turned  out 
with  the  greatest  alacrity,  leaving  their  harvests  in  the 
fields." 

The  people  of  New  England  had  also  their  grounds 
of  complaint.  They  could  not  forget  that  the  traders  of 
Albany  had  been  instigators  of  the  incursions  upon  them 
by  the  savages  ;  while  the  fact  was  forgotten  that  Colonel 
Schuyler,  the  father  of  the  general,  had  exerted  his  influ- 
ence over  them  to  prevent,  and  had  announced  to  Massa- 
chusetts the  menaced  danger.* 

Men  of  Connecticut  felt  the  growing  prejudice  and 
their  growing  strength.  "  Any  thing  New  England  hard- 
ly goes  down,"  was  the  language  of  a  delegate  of  that 
State  to  its  governor.  "  Early  in  the  dispute  they  cried 
out  that  we  were  going  to  cram  Presbyterians  down  their 
throats.  In  short  there  is  a  fixed  aversion  to  our  man- 
ners. May  it  not  be  a  presage  that  our  manners  and  our 
arms  will  sooner  or  later  overcome  them  ?  My  prudence 
may  be  questioned  for  speaking  words  tending  to  dis- 
union, but  I  consider  to  whom  I  write." 

This  serious  discord  caused  serious  alarm   at   head- 

*  General  Gates  is  here.     How  shall  we  make  him  head  of  that  army  ?  * — the 
northern. —  Works  of  John  Adamg,  ix.  449. 
*  Grahame's  U.  S  iii  27. 


MT.  20.]  HAMILTON.  255 

quarters,  where  the  necessity  of  reconciling  a  various  peo- 
ple at  variance  with  each  other,  would  be  felt  as  the  most 
urgent,  as  it  was  the  most  difficult  of  duties. 

To  compose  this  feud,  Hamilton,  over  the  signature  of 
Washington,  replied  to  the  Council  of  Safety  of  New 
York  .  on  the  day  of  Gates'  election  to  the  northern 
command. 

"  The  misfortune  at  Ticonderoga  has  given  a  very  dis- 
agreeable turn  to  our  affairs,  and  has  thrown  a  gloom 
upon  the  happy  prospects  which  the  campaign,  previous 
to  that  event,  afforded.  But  I  am  in  great  hopes  the  ill 
consequences  of  it  will  not  continue  long  to  operate,  and 
that  the  jealousies  and  alarms,  which  so  sudden  and  unex- 
pected an  event  has  produced  in  the  minds  of  the  people, 
both  of  your  State  and  to  the  eastward,  will  soon  subside, 
and  give  place  to  the  more  rational  dictates  of  self-preser- 
vation and  a  regard  to  the  common  good.  In  fact,  the 
worst  effect  of  that  event  is,  that  it  has  served  to  produce 
those  distrusts  and  apprehensions,  for,  if  the  matter  were 
coolly  and  dispassionately  considered,  there  would  be 
found  nothing  so  formidable  in  Mr.  Burgoyne  and  the 
force  under  him,  with  all  his  successes,  as  to  countenance 
the  least  languor  or  despondency  ;  and  experience  would 
show,  that  even  the  moderate  exertions  of  the  States 
more  immediately  interested,  would  be  sufficient  to  check 
his  career,  and,  perhaps,  convert  the  advantages  he  has 
gained  into  his  ruin.  But  while  people  continue  to  view 
what  has  happened  through  the  medium  of  suspicion  and 
fear,  there  is  no  saying  to  what  length  an  enterprising 
man  may  push  his  good  fortune.  I  have  the  fullest  confi- 
dence that  no  endeavors  of  the  council  will  be  wanted  to 
bring  your  State  (with  the  distresses  of  which  I  am  deeply 
affected)  to  every  effort  it  is  capable  of  making  in  its  pre- 
sent mutilated  situation,  and  they  may  rely  upon  it,  that 


256  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777 

no  means  in  my  power  shall  be  unemployed  to  co-operate 
with  them  in  the  danger  that  presses  upon  the  State,  and 
through  it,  threatens  the  continent.  If  I  do  not  give  so 
effectual  aid  as  I  could  wish  to  the  northern  army,  it  is 
not  for  want  of  inclination,  nor  from  being  too  little  im- 
pressed with  the  importance  of  doing  it.  It  is  because  the 
state  of  affairs  in  this  quarter  will  not  possibly  admit  of 
it.  It  would  be  the  height  of  impolicy  to  weaken  our- 
selves too  much  here,  in  order  to  increase  and  strengthen 
there  ;  and  it  must  certainly  be  considered  more  difficult, 
as  well  as  of  greater  moment,  to  control  the  main  army  of 
the  enemy  than  an  inferior,  and  I  may  say,  dependent 
one ;  for  it  is  pretty  obvious  that  if  General  Howe  can  be 
completely  kept  at  bay  and  prevented  effecting  his  prin- 
cipal purpose,  the  successes  of  Mr.  Burgoyne,  whatever 
they  may  be,  must  be  partial  and  temporary. 

"Nothing  that  I  can  do  shall  be  wanting  to  rouse  the 
Eastern  States  and  excite  them  to  those  exertions  which 
the  exigency  of  our  affairs  so  urgently  demands.  I  lament 
that  they  have  not  yet  done  more ;  that  so  few  of  their 
militia  have  come  into  the  field,  that  those  few  have  be- 
haved so  inconsistently  with  the  duty  they  owe  their 
country,  at  this  critical  period.  But  I  have,  nevertheless, 
great  reliance  upon  those  States.  I  know  they  are  capa- 
ble of  powerful  efforts ;  and  that  their  attachment  to  the 
cause,  notwithstanding  they  may  be  a  little  tardy,  will  not 
allow  them  long  to  withhold  their  aid  at  a  time  when  their 
own  safety,  that  of  a  sister  State,  and  in  a  great  measure 
the  safety  of  the  continent  calls  for  their  greatest  zeal  and 
activity.  I  flatter  myself  the  presence  of  Generals  Lin- 
coln and  Arnold  in  the  northern  department  will  have  a 
happy  effect  upon  them.  Those  gentlemen  possess  much 
of  their  confidence,  particularly  the  former,  than  whom 
there  is,  perhaps,  no  man  from  the  State  of  Massachusetts 


-Ex.  20.]  HAMILTON".  257 

who  enjoys  more  universal  esteem  and  popularity.  And, 
in  addition  to  that,  they  may  both  be  considered  as  very 
valuable  officers.  You  intimate  a  wish  that  some  assist- 
ance could  be  drawn  from  the  Southern  States  at  this 
time.  But  while  things  remain  in  their  present  posture, 
and  appearances,  however  illusory  they  may  prove,  afford 
the  strongest  reason  to  keep  their  force  at  home,  to  coun- 
teract the  seeming  intentions  of  General  Howe,  I  could 
neither  ask  nor  expect  them  to  detach  any  part  of  it  to  the 
succor  of  the  Northern  States,  who  are  so  well  able  to  de- 
fend themselves  against  the  force  they  now  have  to  oppose. 

"  I  hope  an  exaggerated  idea  of  the  enemy's  force  may 
have  no  injurious  influence  on  our  measures.  There  is  no 
circumstance  I  am  acquainted  with  that  induces  me  to 
believe  Gen.  Burgoyne  can  have  more  than  five  or  six 
thousand  men ;  and  if  the  force  left  in  Canada  is  so  in- 
considerable as  the  information  you  send  me  makes  it,  he 
cannot  have  even  so  many. 

"  The  representations  of  prisoners  and  deserters  in  this 
respect  are  of  little  validity ;  their  knowledge  is  always 
very  limited,  and  their  intention,  particularly  the  former, 
is  very  often  bad.  Beyond  what  regards  the  state  of 
their  companies,  no  attention  is  due  to  what  they  say. 
The  number  of  regiments  your  informant  mentions  agrees 
with  other  accounts,  but  the  number  of  men  in  each  com- 
pany which  he  gives  the  establishment  is  not,  I  am  per- 
suaded, the  actual  state.  The  British  army  in  Canada 
last  campaign,  though  they  suffered  little  by  action,  must 
have  decreased  materially  by  sickness  and  other  casual- 
ties ;  and  if  the  recruits  both  from  England  and  Germany 
bore  any  proportion  to  those  which  have  reinforced  Gen- 
eral Howe,  the  state  of  their  regiments  must  be  greatly 
inferior  to  what  your  information  supposes.  Reasoning  by 
analogy,  as  far  as  it  will  apply,  I  cannot  imagine  the  Brit- 
VOL.  I.— 17 


258  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777 

ish  regiments  can  exceed  two  hundred  and  fifty  men  each, 
fit  for  the  field,  or  that  the  foreign  troops  can  amount  to 
much  more  than  three  thousand  men. 

"  The  appointment  of  General  Clinton  to  the  govern- 
ment of  your  State,  is  an  event  that  in  itself  gives  me 
great  pleasure,  and  very  much  abates  the  regret  I  should 
otherwise  feel  for  the  loss  of  his  services  in  the  military 
line.  That  gentleman's  character  is  such  as  will  make 
him  peculiarly  useful  at  the  head  of  your  State  in  a  situa- 
tion so  alarming  and  interesting  as  it  at  present  expe- 
riences. For  the  future,  agreeably  to  your  desire,  I  shall 
direct  my  applications  to  him."^,^ 

Imperfect  intelligence  of  the  investment  of  Fort 
Schuyler,  of  the  steadiness  of  Gansevoort  and  repulse  of 
the  relieving  party,  of  the  fall  of  Herkimer,  and  the  gal- 
lant sortie  of  Willett  and  defeat  of  the  besiegers,  was  at 
this  time  communicated  by  Clinton.  Hamilton,  in  the 
name  of  Washington,  wrote  him  in  terms  similar  to  those 
addressed  to  the  Council  of  Safety.  "  If  the  loss  of  some 
of  their  most  spirited  leaders  which  happened  on  the  oc- 
casion, do  not  operate  too  forcibly  on  the  minds  of  the 
people  in  that  quarter,  I  should  imagine  these  little  suc- 
cesses might  be  productive  of  valuable  consequences. 
The  Indians,  we  know,  are  not  a  very  persevering  people, 
but,  on  the  contrary,  are  apt  to  be  discouraged  by  the 
most  trifling  miscarriages,  and  two  rebuffs  like  these  would 
be  no  inconsiderable  inducement  with  them  to  abandon 
the  British  troops.  *  *  *  These  little  reverses  of  for- 
tune will  also  have  their  influence  in  abating  that  confi- 
dence which  his  former  uninterrupted  successes  have  in- 
spired into  the  enemy,  and  will  tend  proportionally  to 
revive  the  drooping  spirit  of  our  army.  *  *  *  I  see 
with  the  most  sensible  pleasure  the  exertions  of  your 
State,  dismembered  as  it  is,  and  under  every  discourage- 


JEr.  20.]  HAMILTON.  259 

rnent  and  disadvantage.  I  lament  that  any  causes  are 
sufficiently  powerful  to  prevent  that  effectual  aid  from 
your  eastern  neighbors  which  the  interest  of  the  public 
cause  and  the  immediate  safety  of  your  particular  State 
so  pressingly  demand  at  this  time.  But  though  it  is  dila- 
tory in  coming,  I  cannot  but  hope  it  will  come  before  it  is 
too  late.  I  imagine  one  cause  and  not  the  least  material, 
of  their  delay  is,  an  apprehension  of  General  Howe's 
army.  *  *  *  I  am,  however,  advised,  that  a  body  of 
New  Hampshire  militia  under  General  Stark  had  joined 
General  Lincoln  at  Bennington,  and  another  of  Massa- 
chusetts militia  was  partly  arrived,  and  the  rest  arriving 
at  the  same  place.  A  tolerable  body  of  men  once  col- 
lected there,  could  make  Mr.  Burgoyne  anxious  for  his 
rear,  oblige  him  to  advance  circumspectly,  and  to  leave 
such  strong  posts  behind  as  must  make  his  main  body 
very  weak,  and  extremely  capable  of  being  repulsed  by 
the  force  we  shall  have  in  front.  I  should  not  be  very 
uneasy  for  the  issue,  if  I  could  see  our  northern  army  re- 
covered from  their  present  dejection  and  restored  to  a 
tolerable  degree  of  confidence  and  animation."  "In  ad- 
dition to  the  two  regiments  that  are  gone  from  Peekskill, 
I  am  forwarding,  as  fast  as  possible,  to  join  the  northern 
army,  Colonel  Morgan's  corps  of  riflemen,  amounting  to 
about  five  hundred.  These  are  all  chosen  men,  selected 
from  the  army  at  large,  well  acquainted  with  the  use  of 
rifles,  and  with  that  mode  of  fighting  which  is  necessary 
to  make  them  a  good  counterpoise  to  the  Indians,  and  have 
distinguished  themselves  on  a  variety  of  occasions  since 
the  formation  of  the  corps  in  skirmishes  with  the  enemy. 
I  expect  the  most  eminent  services  from  them,  and  I  shall 
be  mistaken,  if  their  presence  does  not  go  far  towards 
producing  a  general  desertion  among  the  savages."  He 
advised  the  circulating  of  these  ideas  with  proper  em- 


260  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1Y77. 

bellishments    before    their    arrival.     "It   would   not   be 
amiss,  among  other  things,  to  magnify  numbers." 

Two  days  after  this  almost  prophetic  letter,  on  the 
eighteenth  of  August,  Hamilton  wrote  to  Robert  R  Living- 
ston from  the  camp  at  Cross  Roads.  This  communication 
contains  a  fuller  exposition  of  the  same  views,  and  shows 
his  agency  in  the  measures  taken,  especially  the  forward- 
ing of  Morgan's  corps,  nor  is  it  less  interesting  for  the 
deep  and  earnest  feeling  he  evinces  towards  New  York, 
his  "  political  parent." 

"  I  most  sincerely  and  heartily  sympathize  with  you  in 
the  distress  and  danger  under  which  your  State  is  laboring 
at  this  critical  period.  I  lament  its  misfortunes  as  they 
are  wounds  to  the  common  cause,  as  they  more  nearly 
interest  those  for  whom  I  feel  the  warmest  regard,  and  as 
they  are  suffered  by  a  State  which  I  consider  in  a  great 
measure  as  my  political  parent.  I  wish  any  thing  in  my 
power  could  contribute  to  its  relief. 

"  I  am  fully  sensible,  with  you,  that  Mr.  Burgoyne's 
successes  involve  the  most  important  consequences  to 
America,  and  that  a  further  progress  in  your  State  may 
bring  on  all  the  evils  you  delineate,  and  most  deeply  affect 
the  common  cause.  I  agree  with  you,  that  the  loss  of 
your  State  will  be  a  more  afflicting  blow  to  America  than 
any  that  could  be  struck  by  Mr.  Howe  to  the  southward ; 
and  I  can  assure  you  it  is  regarded  in  the  same  light  by 
others,  whose  thoughts  of  the  matter  are  of  much  more 
consequence  than  my  own.  I  may  also  add  that  his  ex- 
cellency has  afforded  the  northern  army  all  the  assistance 
he  could  in  his  circumstances  give,  with  the  least  degree 
of  propriety  ;  and  were  you  as  well  acquainted  with  those 
circumstances  as  I  am,  you  would  be  perfectly  convinced 
of  the  truth  of  what  I  assert. 

"  Though  I  have  differed,  and  still  differ,  and,  I  believe. 


/ET.  20.]  HAMILTON.  2(jj 

on  the  most  substantial  grounds,  with  you,  as  to  the  num- 
bers of  the  enemy,  yet  I  clearly  perceive  from  the  spirit 
reigning  in  our  army,  and  from  the  unpardonable  back- 
wardness of  your  eastern  neighbors,  that  you  have  every 
thing  to  fear,  notwithstanding  your  most  strenuous  ex- 
ertions, which,  to  the  honor  of  your  State,  are  justly 
admired,  as  far  surpassing  what  might  naturally  be  ex- 
pected from  you  under  so  many  discouragements.  I  am. 
so  thoroughly  impressed  with  your  true  situation,  that  I  am 
fully  of  opinion  if  Burgoyne  is  not  speedily  checked  in 
his  career,  he  will  become  the  first  object  to  this  army, 
especially  if  Howe  operates  so  far  to  the  southward  as 
every  appearance  seems  to  indicate.  Charleston  is  now 
thought  to  be  the  place  of  his  destination.  He  has  been 
seen  passing  by  Sinnipinxint,  steering  southward,  twelve 
days  ago  ;  and,  as  he  has  not  been  since  heard  of,  'tis 
concluded  he  must  be  bound  pretty  far  in  that  course,  and 
no  object  short  of  Charleston  is  supposed  at  all  worthy 
his  attention.  However  common  sense  is  against  Mr. 
Howe's  going  so  far  to  the  southward,  facts  are  so  strongly 
in  favor  of  it,  that  we  must  give  credit  to  them.  It  is  an 
inadmissible  supposition,  that  he  can  be  keeping  a  large 
fleet  so  long  at  sea,  merely  as  a  feint,  or  that  he  would 
steer  so  far  out  of  his  way  if  he  really  intended  to  operate 
to  the  northward  ;  the  more  as  the  season  is  at  hand  when 
he  would  be  liable  to  heavy  gusts  on  the  southern  shores, 
and  contrary  winds  on  his  return. 

"If  he  goes  so  far  southward,  we  cannot  think  of  fol- 
lowing him  with  this  army  ;  and  if  Burgoyne  continues 
to  penetrate,  we  must  find  means  to  stop  him.  This  will  . 
point  out  the  propriety  of  uniting  this  with  the  northern 
army,  and  falling  upon  him  with  their  joint  force  ;  and 
perhaps  nothing  is  more  to  be  wished  than  that  affairs 
should  run  into  this  train. 


262  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1777 

-*-*  Before  this  reaches  you,  you  will  be  informed  that 
two  regiments  have  gone  from  Peekskill  to  reinforce  the 
northern  army,  and  that  Morgan's  corps  of  riflemen  are 
on  their  march  for  the  same  purpose.  They  left  Trenton 
yesterday  morning,  and  as  they  march  light,  and  vessels 
are  ordered  to  be  ready  waiting  for  them  at  Peekskill, 
they  will  soon  be  at  the  place  of  their  destination.  It  has 
been  my  wish  and  endeavor  for  some  time  past,  that  this 
corps  might  be  sent  to  your  assistance.  I  expect  much 
from  them;  they  are  a  picked  corps,  well  used  to  rifles 
and  to  wood-fights,  commanded  by  officers  of  distinguished 
bravery,  and  have  been  very  serviceable  in  frequent 
skirmishes  with  the  enemy.  I  dare  say  these  people  will 
soon  chastise  the  forwardness  of  the  Indians,  and  I  should 
not  be  surprised  if,  after  a  little  time,  they  make  them  de- 
sert their  British  friends.  Their  known  inconstancy  and 
want  of  perseverance  give  great  reason  to  hope  a  few 
drubbings  will  exceedingly  discourage  them,  and  send  the 
greatest  part  of  them  home.  From  every  account  I  am 
led  to  believe  our  misfortunes  are  greatly  owing  to  a  panic 
dread  of  the  Indians.  If  this  be  so,  the  presence  of 
Morgan's  corps  will  not  fail  to  have  the  most  happy  effect. 
It  would  be  well  to  propagate  through  the  country  and 
army,  such  ideas  of  this  corps  as  will  tend  to  revive  the 
spirits  of  both  inhabitants  and  soldiers.  If  their  number, 
which  is  about  five  hundred,  is  exaggerated,*  it  would  do 
no  harm.  But  of  all  things,  my  dear  sir,  let  every  topic 
be  carefully  avoided,  that  may  tend  to  breed  jealousies 
beween  this  corps  and  the  northern  troops ;  such  jealousies 
have  been,  are,  and  will  be  more  detrimental  to  our  affairs 
than  any  thing  besides." 

Two  objects  now  presented  themselves,  an  attack  upon 

*  The  original  is  defective  ;  the  word  "  exaggerated  "  was  that  probably 
nsed. 


JET.  20.]  HAMILTON.  263 

New  York,  or  a  junction  with  the  northern  army.  In 
view  of  these,  Hamilton  instructed  Colonel  Dayton  to  ob- 
tain intelligence  of  the  situation  of  the  enemy  near  New 
York,  their  strength  and  motions,  the  number  of  wagons 
they  were  collecting,  and  of  boats  that  might  be  gathered 
"  for  any  sudden  secret  expedition." 

Soon  after,*  over  Washington's  signature,  he  wrote  to 
Congress.  From  the  time  which  had  elapsed  since  ad- 
vices were  received  from  Howe,  it  was  presumed  that  he 
meditated  an  attack  upon  Charleston.  "  The  extensive 
commerce,  the  vast  accumulations  of  military  and  other 
stores  in  that  town  and  its  dependencies,  with  the  eclat  it 
would  give  his  arms,  if  he  should  unfortunately  take  it, 
afford  him  stronger  inducements  to  direct  his  operations 
there  than  he  could  possibly  have  elsewhere.  Matters 
being  thus  circumstanced,  an  important  question  arises. 
How  this  army  is  to  be  employed  if  his  intentions  are  such 
as  I  suppose  them  ?  It  appears  to  me  that  an  attempt  to 
follow  him  would  not  only  be  fruitless,  but  would  be  at- 
tended with  the  most  ruinous  consequences."  Having 
pursued  this  train  of  thought,  he  observes  :  "  We  have  no 
other  alternative  left  than  to  remain  here  idle  and  inac- 
tive on  the  remote  probability  of  his  returning  this  way, 
or  to  proceed  towards  Hudson  River  with  a  view  of  op- 
posing General  Burgoyne,  or  making  an  attempt  upon 
New  York  Island,  as  the  situation  of  affairs  shall  point  out. 
A  successful  stroke,  with  respect  to  either,  woud  be  at- 
tended with  the  most  signal  advantages,  and  would  be  the 
best  compensation  we  could  make  for  any  losses  we  may 
sustain  at  the  southward.  Besides  these  considerations,  if, 
after  all  our  conjectures  and  reasoning  upon  the  subject, 
General  Howe  should  be  gone  to  the  eastward  to  co-oper- 

*  Ang.  21. 


2t54  THE   EEPUBLIC.  [1777. 

ate  with  Mr.  Burgoyne,  the  army  will  be,  by  the  move- 
ment proposed,  so  far  on  its  way  to  prevent,  I  hope,  the 
success  of  his  enterprise.  The  above  reasons  led  me  to 
call  a  council  of  general  officers  this  morning  to  take  the 
subject  of  removing  the  troops  hence  into  consideration, 
and  I  am  happy  to  inform  Congress  they  were  in  senti- 
ment with  me  upon  the  occasion  as  they  will  perceive  by 
a  copy  of  the  proceedings  there  had.  *  *  *  Never- 
theless, as  it  is  a  movement  which  may  involve  the  most 
important  consequences,  I  have  thought  proper  to  submit 
it  to  Congress  for  their  deliberation  and  decision.  If  it  is 
deemed  expedient,  we  have  perhaps  not  a  moment  to  lose 
in  carrying  it  into  execution ;  and,  under  this  persuasion, 
I  have  sent  Colonel  Hamilton,  one  of  my  aids,  who  will 
have  the  honor  of  delivering  this,  to  bring  me  the  result 
of  their  opinions."  Having  in  view  the  temper  of  Gates, 
he  added :  "  As  the  northern  department  has  been  all  along 
considered  separate,  and  in  some  measure  distinct,  and 
there  are  special  resolves  vesting  the  command  in  partic- 
ular persons,  in  case  it  should  hereafter  appear  eligible  to 
unite  the  two  armies,  it  may  perhaps  be  necessary  that 
Congress  should  place  the  matter  upon  such  a  footing 
as  to  remove  all  scruples  or  difficulties  about  the  com- 
mand, that  could  possibly  arise  on  my  arrival  there.  This 
I  request  from  a  disposition  to  have  harmony,  and  from 
my  knowing  the  ill  and  fatal  consequences  that  have  often 
arisen  from  such  controversies,  and  not  from  the  most  dis- 
tant apprehension  that  one  would  take  place  upon  such  an 
event.  The  thing,  however,  is  possible,  and  to  guard 
against  it  can  do  no  injury."  These  operations  were 
abandoned  in  consequence  of  advices  received  of  the  ap- 
proach of  General  Howe.  His  original  design  was  to  sail 
up  the  Delaware,  but  on  entering  the  capes,  deterred  by 
the  supposed  difficulties  of  reaching  Philadelphia  by  water, 


_«T.  20.]  HAMILTON.    .  ;  265 

among  which  were  the  fire  ships  and  rafts,  he  resolved  to 
pass  up  the  Chesapeake.  Baffling  winds  prevented  his 
coming  into  the  bay  until  the  middle  of  August,  when  he 
made  his  course,  entered  the  Elk,  and,  on  the  twenty- 
fifth  of  August,  began  to  disembark  his  troops  at  its 
head. 

Three  days  before,  General  Sullivan  made  a  descent 
upon  Staten  Island  with  a  body  of  troops  chiefly  composed 
of  Jersey  militia.  Here  were  stationed  in  a  fortified  camp 
more  than  two  thousand  men — one  regiment  of  British 
regulars,  two  of  Hessians,  the  residue  new  raised  levies 
of  provincials.  Sullivan  crossed  over  in  the  night,  sur- 
prised part  of  the  enemy,  made  prisoners  two  colonels,  a 
number  of  officers  and  one  hundred  and  thirty  privates. 
On  an  alarm  he  hastened  to  withdraw,  but  from  an  in- 
sufficiency of  boats,  his  rear  guard  was  attacked  before 
they  could  embark.  They  made  a  brave  resistance,  and 
the  American  loss  was  equal  to  the  British.  Hamilton 
wrote  him  over  the  signature  of  Washington,  "  It  is  unfor- 
tunate that  an  affair  that  had  so  prosperous  a  beginning 
should  have  terminated  so  disagreeably  as  in  a  great 
measure  to  defeat  the  good  consequences  that  might  have 
attended  it.  *  *  *  I  am  not  sufficiently  acquainted 
with  circumstances  to  form  a  correct  judgment  of  what 
might  have  been  expected  from  this  expedition,  but  from 
the  view  I  have  of  them,  and  from  your  own  representa- 
tions of  the  matter,  the  situation  of  the  enemy  seems 
to  have  been  such  as  afforded  an  opportunity  of  reap- 
ing much  more  decisive  advantages  than  were  in  fact 
gained." 

The  incompleteness  of  this  gallant  attempt  having 
given  rise  to  censure,  Sullivan  demanded  a  court  of  in- 
quiry. It  was  composed  of  Lord  Stirling,  McDougall, 
Knox,  Spencer  and  Clark.  The  sentence  of  the  court 


266  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

drawn  up  by  Hamilton,  states,  that  "  the  expedition  was 
eligible,  and  promised  great  advantage  to  the  cause  of 
America ;  and  that  General  Sullivan's  conduct  in  planning 
and  executing  it  was  such,  that  he  deserved  the  approba- 
tion of  his  country  and  not  its  censure." 


CHAPTER    X. 

THE  scene  of  the  operations  of  the  armies  under  Wash- 
ington and  Howe  was  between  the  head  waters  of  the 
Elk  and  the  Schuylkill,  running  nearly  parallel.  The 
southern  border  was  the  Delaware. 

This  generally  level  country  was  intersected  by  sue 
cessive  small  streams,  known  as  the  Christiana,  White 
Clay,  and  Red  Clay  Creeks,  separated  from  each  othei 
by  gentle  elevations  and  flowing  transversely  into  the 
Christiana  River,  which,  uniting  with  the  Brandywine 
near  Wilmington,  empties  into  the  Delaware.  Of  more 
volume  than  the  other  water-courses,  the  Brandywine, 
from  its  forks,  near  which  is  a  ford  called  Buffington's,  to 
its  mouth,  takes  a  southern  direction  parallel  to  the 
Schuylkill. 

Below  its  forks  are  four  other  fords,  Wistars's,  Jones's, 
Brinton's,  and  Chad's  ford,  nearly  equidistant  from  each 
other,  within  a  few  miles. 

The  enemy  moved  from  their  place  of  disembarkation 
in  two  divisions,  that  under  Cornwallis  to  the  west  of  the 
Elk,  that  of  Knyphausen,  who,  on  the  recent  return  of 
Heister  to  Europe,  commanded  the  German  auxiliaries  to 
the  east  of  that  stream. 

The  design  of  this  separation  of  the  force  computed 


THE    REPUBLIC.  [1777 

at  fifteen  *  thousand  men,  was  supposed  to  be  to  prevent 
the  militia  from  the  eastern  shore  of  Maryland  repairing 
to  Washington's  assistance,  and  also  to  hold  the  command 
of  an  extensive  country  within  which  to  collect  their  sup- 
plies. In  this  view,  Hamilton,  on  the  third  of  September, 
in  the  name  of  Washington,  then  at  Wilmington,  wrote 
to  General  Maxwell,  who,  at  the  head  of  a  light  corps 
selected  from  the  army  at  large,  was  thrown  forward  to 
skirmish  with  and  harass  their  advancing  parties.  Ap- 
proving his  taking  possession  of  Christiana  Bridge,  thus 
only  exposing  his  front,  he  observed :  "  I  wish  you  very 
much  to  have  the  situation  of  the  enemy  critically  recon- 
noitred to  know  as  exactly  as  possible  how  and  where 
they  lie,  in  what  places  they  are  approachable,  where 
their  several  guards  are  stationed ;  and  the  strength  of 
them,  and  every  thing  necessary  to  be  known  to  enable 
us  to  judge  with  precision  whether  any  advantage  may  be 
taken  of  their  present  divided  state.  No  pains  should  be 
omitted  to  gain  as  much  certainty  as  can  be  had  in  all 
these  particulars."  The  two  divisions  of  the  enemy 
formed  a  junction,  at  the  date  of  this  letter,  at  Iron  Hill. 
Here  they  encamped.  An  animating  general  order  was 
issued  by  Washington  at  Wilmington.  "  Now  is  the  time 
to  reap  the  fruits  of  all  our  toils  and  dangers.  If  we  be- 
have like  men,  this  campaign  will  be  our  last.  Ours  is  the 
main  army.  To  us  our  countrymen  look  for  protection. 
Here  glory  waits  to  crown  the  brave.  Peace,  Freedom 
and  Happiness,  will  be  the  rewards  of  Victory.  Ani- 
mated by  motives  like  these,  soldiers  fighting  in  the  cause 
of  innocence,  humanity  and  justice,  will  never  give  way, 
but  with  undaunted  resolution  push  on  to  conquest.  And 
this,  the  general  assures  himself,  is  the  part  the  American 
forces  now  in  arms  will  act,  and  thus  acting,  he  will  cn- 

*  By  some  statements,  18,000. 


JEr.  20.]  HAMILTON".  260 

sure  them  success."  On  the  route  of  Cornwallis,  Max- 
well being  attacked,  fell  back,  after  several  close,  well- 
directed  fires,  across  the  White  Clay  Creek.  The  body 
of  the  Americans  now  advanced  from  Wilmington  to 
Newport  on  the  Christiana  behind  the  Red  Clay  Creek, 
distant  from  the  enemy  about  nine  miles.  At  this  post, 
Washington  waited  an  attack.  The  British,  after  an  in- 
terval of  five  days,  recruiting  their  horses  and  gaining 
intelligence,  approached,  apparently  for  this  purpose ; 
presenting  a  heavy  column  in  his  front  and  extending 
their  main  body  some  distance  upon  his  right.  During 
their  approach,  an  enterprise  was  projected  to  be  accom- 
plished by  Maxwell,  that  was  not  pursued,  as  to  which 
Hamilton  gave  him  strict  injunctions  of  precaution  and 
secrecy.  Believing  that  the  real  intent  of  the  British  was. 
while  amusing  him  in  front,  to  march  by  his  right,  pass 
the  Brandywine,  gain  the  heights  north  of  that  river,  and 
thus  take  a  position  between  himself  and  Philadelphia, 
Washington  changed  his  position  early  in  the  night,  and 
the  next  morning  crossed  the  Brandywine  at  Chad's  ford. 
Here  he  entrenched  himself,  throwing  up  two  small  bat- 
teries which  commanded  this  ford,  that  being  the  route  the 
enemy  would  most  probably  take  towards  Philadelphia. 

"  This  country,"  Hamilton  wrote  to  Morris  from  this 
place,  "  does  not  abound  in  good  posts.  It  is  intersected 
by  such  an  infinity  of  roads,  and  is  so  little  mountainous, 
that  it  is  impossible  to  find  a  spot  not  liable  to  capital  ob- 
jections. The  one  we  now  have  is,  all  things  considered, 
the  best  we  could  find ;  but  there  is  no  great  dependence 
to  be  put  upon  it.  The  enemy  will  have  Philadelphia  if 
they  dare  make  a  bold  push  for  it,  unless  we  fight  them  a 
pretty  general  action.  I  opine  we  ought  to  do  it,  and  that 
we  shall  beat  them  soundly  if  we  do.  The  militia  seem 
pretty  generally  stirring.  Our  army  is  in  high  health  and 


270  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777 

spirits.  We  shall,  I  hope,  have  twice  the  enemy's  num- 
bers. I  would  not  only  fight  them,  but  I  would  attack 
them;  for  I  hold  it  an  established  maxim  that  there  is 
three  to  one  in  favor  of  the  party  attacking." 

The  desired  opportunity  was  soon  offered. 

On  the  tenth  of  September,  the  enemy  reached  Ken- 
net's  Square,  a  few  miles  north-west  of  Washington's  po- 
sition, and  eight  o'clock  the  next  morning  their  right  wing, 
under  Knyphausen,  advanced  towards  him  and  began  a 
cannonade  whch  continued  on  both  sides  nearly  two 
hours.  .  f»f«»f»i 

They  were  attacked  by  Maxwell,  who,  crossing  the 
Brandy  wine  for  that  purpose,  took  post  on  gome  high 
grounds  on  each  side  of  a  road.  The  attack  was  brisk, 
the  fire  severe,  and  destructive.  Twice  he  repulsed  them, 
but  pressed  by  their  superior  force,  he  at  last  retreated. 
The  enemy  then  halted  on  the  heights  south  of  the  fiver, 
Knyphausen  reconnoitring,  and  making  dispositions  to  in- 
duce a  belief  that  he  intended  to  cross  with  his  whole 
force. 

While  this  semblance  of  a  purpose  to  give  battle  here 
was  kept  up,  a  column  composed  of  British  and  Hessian 
grenadiers,  light  infantry,  mounted  and  dismounted  chas- 
seurs, and  the  artillery,  in  number  nearly  seven  thousand, 
under  Cornwallis,  filed  off  to  the  left.  With  the  twofold 
purpose  of  avoiding  interruption  by  the  creeks  to  the 
movement  of  his  artillery,  and  to  insure  a  surprise,  Corn- 
wallis took  a  circuitous  route  and  crossed  the  Brandy  wine 
about  two  in  the  afternoon  by  easy  fords  above  its  forks, 
six  miles  to  the  right  of  the  Americans. 

The  previous  evening,  Sullivan  was  ordered  with  his 
division  to  Brinton's  ford,  next  above  Chad's,  with  direc- 
tions to  post  guards  at  each  of  the  three  other  fords  below 
the  junction  of  the  forks.  This  he  did.  With  only  four 


JET.  20.]  HAMILTON.  271 

light  horse  at  his  command  found  at  Brinton's  ford,  two 
of  whom  were  sent  to  the  fords  above  him,  and  two  re- 
tained to  carry  intelligence  to  head-quarters  ;  Sullivan 
being  informed,  in  the  presence  of  Washington,  by  a  per- 
son probably  employed  to  give  false  information,  that 
there  were  no  other  fords  within  a  distance  of  twelve 
miles,  did  not  extend  his  observation  farther. 

About  noon,  intelligence  was  received  by  him,  and 
communicated  to  Washington,  that  .five  thousand  men 
with  sixteen  field-pieces  were  marching  towards  certain 
fords  over  the  forks,  and  beyond  the  fords  'guarded  by 
him. 

Washington  immediately  decided  to  take  advantage  of 
this  disjunction  of  the  enemy's  force.  Orders  were  issued 
to  Sullivan  to  cross  the  Brandywine  and  attack  the  ad- 
vancing column,  while  he,  crossing  at  Chad's  ford,  should 
engage  those  in  his  front.  At  this  moment  he  was  advised 
by  Sullivan  of  later  information  contradicting  the  former, 
that  there  was  no  appearance  of  troops  moving  towards 
the  upper  fords,  which  was  confirmed  from  another 
source,  and  that  he  had  sent  to  ascertain  the  truth. 

The  orders  to  cross  the  Brandywine  were  conse- 
quently suspended.  At  two  o'clock,  Sullivan  communi- 
cated to  Washington  a  note  from  Colonel  Bland  confirm- 
ing the  earliest  information ;  and  that  the  advance  of  the 
enemy's  column,  having  crossed  the  river,  was  two  miles 
in  his  rear,  coming  down. 

While  this  uncertainty  prevailed,  Howe  and  Cornwal- 
lis  had  passed  the  fords,  moved  on,  taken  an  advantageous 
position  above  Birmingham  meeting-house,  and  formed 
for  battle. 

A  little  before  three  o'clock  Sullivan  received  orders 
to  mar --h  with  his  division  to  join  with  and  take  command 
also  ol  those  of  Stirling  and  Stephen,  and  to  oppose  the 


272  THE    KEPUDLJC.  [1777. 

enemy  who  were  advancing  on  his  right  flank.  In  a  few 
minutes  he  marched,  not  knowing  where  the  enemy  was, 
nor  what  route  the  other  two  divisions  were  to  take,  and 
consequently  where  he  should  join  them.  On  his  way  he 
was  informed  by  Colonel  Hazen,  retiring  with  one  of  the 
regiments  which  had  been  stationed  at  an  upper  ford,  that 
the  principal  part  of  the  British  army  was  close  upon  him. 
They  appeared  about  forty  rods  from  his  advanced  guard. 
This  rendered  it  necessary  he  should  move  to  the  right 
and  approach  the  other  two  divisions  which  he  at  that 
moment  discovered  drawn  up  on  an  eminence  in  the  rear 
and  to  the  right  of  his  position.  He  instantly  ordered 
Colonel  Hazen  to  pass  a  hollow  way,  file  off  to  the  right, 
and  face  to  cover  the  artillery.  The  enemy,  seeing  this, 
did  not  press  forward,  but  gave  him  time  to  form  his  divi- 
sion on  an  advantageous  height  in  a  line  with  the  other 
two  divisions,  but  nearly  half  a  mile  to  the  left.  He  then 
rode  on  and  conferred  with  Stirling  and  Stephen,  who,  on 
receiving  information  that  the  enemy  were  endeavoring 
to  outflank  them  on  the  right,  decided  that  his  division 
should  be  moved  to  join  the  others,  and  that  the  whole 
should  incline  farther  to  the  right  to  prevent  it.  While 
his  division  was  approaching  the  others,  and  before  it  was 
possible  to  form  to  advantage,  the  light  troops  of  the  ene- 
my, infantry  and  chasseurs,  commenced  an  attack  sup- 
ported by  the  guards,  grenadiers,  and  a  heavy  train  of 
artillery.  The  American  division  broke  under  this  une- 
qual conflict,  and  were  thrown  into  confusion.  Sullivan 
had  taken  post  in  its  centre  with  his  cannon,  which  he 
ordered  to  play  briskly  to  check  the  progress  of  the  foe, 
and  to  give  his  disordered  troops  time  to  form.  The  artil- 
lery and  part  of  this  division  held  their  ground.  Mean- 
while his  efforts,  by  placing  himself  at  the  head  of  the 
broken  parties  to  rally  them,  were  repeated,  but  vain.  No 


^Er.  20.]  HAMILTON.  273 

sooner  did  he  form  one  party,  but  that  which  he  had  be- 
fore formed  ran  off,  and  frequently  when  there  was  no 
immediate  danger.  He  then  left  them  to  be  rallied  by 
their  own  officers  and  by  his  aides-de-camp,  and  repaired 
to  the  hill  where  he  saw  his  artillery  beginning  to  feel  the 
effects  of  the  enemy's  fire.  This  hill  commanded  both  the 
right  and  left  of  his  line,  and  if  carried,  would  instantly 
bring  on  a  total  rout,  and  render  a  retreat  very  difficult. 
Sullivan  resolved  to  hold  it  as  long  as  possible,  to  render 
Sterling's  and  Stephen's  divisions,  which  yet  stood  firm, 
and  also  Hazen's,  Dayton's,  and  Ogden's  regiments  on  the 
left  yet  unbroken,  as  much  assistance  as  possible  from  the 
artillery,  and  to  cover  his  own  broken  parties,  and  give 
them  time  to  rally.  Some  rallied  ;  others,  though  exhorted 
by  their  officers,  fled.  The  enemy  now  bent  their  princi- 
pal force  upon  the  hill ;  the  fire  was  close  and  heavy,  and 
soon  became  general.  Sterling  and  General  Conway 
joined  him  on  the  hill,  and  exerted  themselves  to  the  ut- 
most to  keep  up  the  troops.  Five  times  the  enemy  drove 
them  from  the  hill,  and  five  times  it  was  regained,  the 
summit  often  disputed  almost  muzzle  to  muzzle,  Sullivan 
in  the  hottest  of  the  fire.  The  general  fire  lasted  an  hour 
and  forty  minutes,  fifty-one  of  which  this  contest  for  the 
hill  was  maintained.  On  the  right,  where  was  Stephen's 
division,  the  contest  was  also  long  and  severe ;  on  the  left 
less  so.  Overpowered  by  superior  numbers,  and  many  of 
the  troops  having  expended  their  cartridges,  the  hill  was 
at  last  abandoned  to  the  enemy,  covered  with  the  dead. 
Sullivan,  to  lessen  the  injurious  consequences  of  the  de- 
feat, rallied  his  troops  on  every  advantageous  rise.  This 
resolute  fighting  continued  until  after  sunset.  The  con- 
flict was  upon  ground  the  Americans  had  never  seen,  and 
the  attack  began  before  there  was  time  to  form.*  The 

*  John  Sullivan  to  Hancock,  Sept.  27,  1777. 

VOL.  I.— 18 


274:  THE    EE PUBLIC.  [1777. 

Americans  were  between  three  and  four  thousand,  the 
British  six  thousand.*  Of  the  latter  the  killed  and  wound- 
ed were  a  thousand  and  seventy-eight.  The  American 
loss  was  estimated  between  seven  and  eight  hundred  and 
ten  field-pieces. 

In  the  midst  of  the  attack  upon  the  right  wing,  a  bat- 
tery of  seven  pieces  was  opened  by  the  enemy  upon  a 
battery  of  equal  force  in  charge  of  the  left  wing,  which 
consisted  of  Wayne's  Pennsylvania  line,  Maxwell's  light 
corps,  and  Nash's  brigade  ordered  to  the  support  of  Sulli- 
van. The  incessant  cannonade  between  these  batteries  pro- 
duced such  a  column  of  smoke,  that  Knyphausen  crossed 
the  Brandy  wine  unperceived.  Wayne  took  possession  of 
a  height  opposite  to  him.  A  severe  action  ensued.  The 
Germans,  repeatedly  attempting  to  pass  the  low  grounds 
near  the  stream,  were  as  often  repulsed. 

Greene's  division,  with  whom  Washington  was,  forming 
the  reserve,  had  taken  a  position  between  the  right  and 
left  wings. 

He  was  about  to  move  to  the  aid  of  Wayne,  when  or- 
dered by  the  commander-in-chief,  who,  learning  the  ad- 
vance of  Cornwallis,  had  joined  the  right  wing,  to  hasten 
to  its  support.  Weedon's  brigade,  part  of  this  reserve, 
gained  a  distance  of  four  miles  in  forty-two  minutes. 
Ere  Greene  came  up,  the  right  wing  had  been  defeated, 
and  it  only  remained  to  check  the  enemy  in  their  pursuit. 
This  he  accomplished,  discharging  his  field-pieces  from  his 
rear,  as  he  retired  before  them,  until  he  reached  a  position 
behind  Dilworth,  indicated  by  Washington  as  the  place 
for  a  stand,  in  case  of  a  repulse.  Here  he  was  met  by  an 
order  to  hold  his  ground,  and,  having  halted  Weedon's 

*  The  statements  as  to  numbers  vary.  There  were  two  regiments  of  Brit- 
ish grenadiers,  two  of  light  infantry,  two  brigades  British,  two  German,  and 
Ferguson's  rifles.  ,>:*  J 


^T.  20.]  HAMILTON.  275 

brigade,  he  passed  on  to  his  right  with  M ughlenburg's,  and 
met  the  advancing  enemy.  "A  desperate  resistance"* 
was  offered  to  them,  and  they  ceased  the  pursuit.  The 
Americans  retreated  to  Chester,  whence  Washington  at 
midnight  announced  the  result  to  Congress  in  a  few  lines, 
stating  that  his  loss  was  not  large,  and  his  troops  in  good 
spirits.  "  This,"  General  Knox  wrote,f  "  is  the  most  capi- 
tal and  general  action  of  the  present  war.  And  when 
we  consider  the  previous  circumstances  of  the  enemy, 
and  the  views  they  had  to  take  possession  of  Philadelphia 
by  a  single  action,  and  the  loss  they  sustained  without 
obtaining  their  end,  it  may  be  fairly  concluded,  that  if  the 
advantage  is  not  on  our  side,  yet  they  will  have  but  little 
to  boast  of." 

In  a  different  spirit  John  Trumbull  writes  to  Gates  : 
"  But  you  see,  as  usual  with  us,  we  have  got  the  victory 
though  we  have  lost  the  ground." 

In  the  engagement  of  the  right  wing,  La  Fayette, 
who  had  recently  been  appointed  a  major-general  in  the 
American  army,  received  a  slight  wound  which  perma- 
nently lamed  him. 

The  propriety  of  Washington's  having  made  this  stand, 
has  been  not  a  little  questioned,  but  it  cannot  be  doubted 
that,  with  his  characteristic  caution,  it  would  not  have 
been  made,  had  it  not  been  of  urgent  necessity.  Public 
opinion  demanded  it.  His  force,  small  as  it  was,  had  been 
collected  and  sustained  with  difficulty.  The  spirit  of  the 
army  was  high.  To  have  surrendered  Philadelphia  with- 
out a  struggle  involved  consequences  both  as  to  the  foreign 
prospects  of  the  country,  and  as  to  its  domestic  credit,  of 
a  most  serious  character.  "  Every  acre,"  it  was  truly 
said,  "  had  its  political  value." 

The  fitness  of  the  position  taken  by  him  for  a  contest 

»  Stedman,  i.  292.  f  S6?4-  13»  1777- 


•276  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

with  the  enemy,  has  been  more  questioned.  The  diffi- 
culty of  guarding  a  stream  of  much  extent  is  indicated, 
and  the  dangers  of  a  division  of  the  guarding  force  dwelt 
upon.  But  if  the  issues  of  a  battle  were  to  be  hazarded, 
it  is  not  easy  to  indicate  a  position  in  this  region  more  ad- 
vantageous than  that  selected.  The  Brandywine  was  the 
strongest  natural  obstacle  in  an  approach  to  Philadelphia. 
The  other  intervening  streams  were  smaller,  the  eleva- 
tions along  their  courses  less,  every  day  the  enemy  was 
recovering  from  the  effects  of  his  voyage,  and  at  every 
step  of  their  retreat  the  Americans  would  lose  heart. 
The  strength  of  the  British  was  not  accurately  known, 
and  such  was  the  disaffected  temper  of  this  region,  that 
only  one  individual  is  seen  hastening  to  Washington  to 
apprise  him  of  their  movements,  concealed  as  they  were 
by  a  fog,  and  under  cover  of  the  hills  and  thick  forests 
which  skirted  part  of  the  circuitous  route  they  took. 

It  is  stated  that  the  part  of  the  right  wing  which  first 
broke  and  caused  the  confusion,  was  in  charge  of  General 
Deborre,  a  French  officer,  who,  a  court  of  inquiry  being 
ordered,  resigned.  As  his  recent  conduct  had  drawn 
upon  him  a  severe  censure  from  the  pen  of  Hamilton  in 
the  name  of  the  commander-in-chief,  his  resignation  was 
not  regretted.  Sullivan  did  not  escape  serious  question. 
A  member  of  Congress,  present  for  a  time  in  the  field,  pre- 
ferred charges  against  him  ;  that  the  result  was  attributa- 
ble to  his  neglect  in  obtaining,  end  the  inaccuracy  of,  his 
intelligence ;  his  circuitous  march,  and  the  disorder  of  his 
troops.  Upon  these  charges  a  resolution  was  hastily 
passed  to  recall  him.  Washington  asked  to  defer  exe- 
cuting the  order  for  the  reasons,  that  it  "  was  unhappily 
adopted,  and  if  carried  into  execution,  would  not  fail  to 
add  new  difficulties  to  his  present  distresses ;  but  that  he 
'did  not  wish  to  prevent  or  to  delay  a  proper  inquiry  into 


^ET.  20.]  HAMILTON.  277 

General  Sullivan's  conduct  a  single  instant,  when  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  army  will  admit."  The  order  was 
suspended.  Chase  of  Maryland  then  moved  that  a  direc- 
tion might  be  given  to  Washington  to  place  the  Maryland 
troops  under  some  other  major-general,  which  would  have 
in  effect  thrown  Sullivan  out.  Reed  of  Pennsylvania 
concurred,  proposing  to  extend  it  to  the  troops  from 
Delaware.  This  precipitate  procedure  was  defeated,  only 
four  votes  approving.  They  were  from  these  two  States, 
who  now  first  felt  the  presence  of  an  enemy. 

Sullivan  did  not  hesitate  to  demand  a  court  of  inquiry, 
which  was  never  called.  His  conduct  in  the  action  was 
commended  by  officers  of  highest  character ;  *  and  as  to 
the  imputed  neglect  as  to  intelligence,  he  received  from 
Washington  a  letter,  written  by  Hamilton.  This  letter, 
ascribing  to  the  inaccuracy  of  the  second  advice  f  received 
from  Sullivan  the  confusion  that  ensued,  stated  "  the 
major's  rank,  reputation  and  knowledge  of  the  country, 
gave  him  a  full  claim  to  credit  and  attention."  "  His  in- 
telligence was  no  doubt  a  most  unfortunate  circumstance, 
as  it  served  to  derange  the  disposition  that  had  been  de- 
termined on,  in  consequence  of  prior  information  of  the 
enemy's  attempt  to  turn  and  attack  our  right  flank  ;  which 
ultimately  proving  true,  too  little  time  was  left  us,  after 
discovering  its  certainty,  to  form  a  new  plan,  and  make 
adequate  arrangements  to  prevent  its  success.  Hence 
arose  that  hurry  and  consequent  confusion  which  after- 
wards ensued.  But  it  was  not  your  fault  that  the  intelli- 
gence was  eventually  found  to  be  erroneous.  All  the 

*  Among  these,  Colonel  Charles  Cotesworth  Pinckney,  then  acting  as  aid 
to  Washington,  says  Sullivan  behaved  "with  the  greatest  calmness  and 
bravery."— Sept.  24,  1777.  Also,  letter  of  Williams  to  Gov.  Trumbull,  Sept 
13,  1777. 

j-  From  Major  Spear. 


278  THE  REPUBLIC.  [1777 

fords  above  Chad's,  from  which  we  were  taught  to  appre- 
hend danger,  were  guarded  by  detachments  from  your 
division,  and  we  were  led  to  believe,  by  those  whom  we 
had  reason  to  think  well  acquainted  with  the  country,  that 
no  ford  above  our  pickets  could  be  passed  without  making 
a  very  circuitous  march.  No  part  of  your  conduct  preced- 
ing the  action  was,  in  my  judgment,  reprehensible,"  and 
"  the  whole  tenor  of  it,  as  far  as  I  have  had  opportunities 
of  judging,  has  been  spirited  and  active."  Sullivan  re- 
tained his  command.  Having  left  Maxwell  at  Chester, 
as  a  centre  for  the  dispersed  troops  to  rally,  the  main  body 
retired  towards  Philadelphia,  governed  in  their  route  by 
the  changing  movements  of  the  enemy  and  by  the  inclem- 
ency of  the  weather,  it  being  the  season  of  the  equinox. 
In  the  mean  time  two  thousand  men  under  Sir  Henry 
Clinton  crossed  from  New  York  into  New  Jersey. 

Hamilton  immediately  informed  Congress,  in  the  name 
of  Washington,  that  Putnam  had  been  ordered  to  send 
forward  a  second  detachment  of  a  thousand  men,  and, 
the  same  day,  instructed  General  Heath  at  Boston,  "  with 
all  possible  expedition,  to  dispatch  forward  all  the  conti- 
nental troops  "  in  Massachusetts.  "  Not  a  moment's  time 
is  to  be  lost.  The  call  for  them  is  indispensably  urgent." 
"  We  are  just  beginning  our  march  to  return  towards  the 
enemy."  On  the  fifteenth,  the  day  after  the  date  of  these 
letters,  the  Americans,  to  gain  the  enemy's  left,  moved  on 
to  the  Warren  tavern,  twenty-three  miles  from  Philadel- 
phia. Here  they  learned  that  Howe  was  advancing  in 
two  columns.  Washington  decided  to  engage  him,  but  as 
the  skirmishers  met,  a  violent  storm  arose,  and  the  Amer- 
icans, happily,  were  enabled  to  retreat,  for  their  arms  and 
ammunition  had  become  unfit  for  use.  After  great  suffer- 
ing they  reached  the  Yellow  Springs,  a  few  miles  south  of 
the  Schuylkill,  the  seventeenth  of  September. 


MT.  20.]  HAMILTON.  279 

Hamilton,  in  the  name  of  Washington,  wrote  thence  to 
Congress.  "  The  enemy  seem  now  to  be  straining  every 
nerve  to  accomplish  their  purpose ;  but  I  trust,  whatever 
present  success  they  may  have,  they  will  ere  long  expe- 
rience a  reverse  of  fortune.  If  they  have  four  thousand 
men  in  the  Jerseys,  it  is  probable  they  have  something 
more  serious  in  view  than  a  mere  diversion ;  but  I  am  in 
hopes  when  General  McDougall  comes  to  unite  his  force 
with  the  militia,  General  Dickinson  will  be  strong  enough 
effectually  to  make  head  against  them.  Yesterday  the 
enemy  moved  from  Concord,  by  the  Edgemont  towards 
the  Lancaster  road,  with  evident  design  to  gain  our  right 
flank.  This  obliged  us  to  alter  our  position  and  march  to 
this  place,  from  whence  we  intend  immediately  to  proceed 
to  Warwick.  We  suffered  much  from  the  severe  weather 
yesterday  and  last  night,  being  unavoidably  separated 
from  our  tents  and  baggage,  which  not  only  endangers 
the  health  of  the  men,  but  has  been  very  injurious  to  our 
arms  and  ammunition.  These,  when  we  arrive  at  War- 
wick, we  shall  endeavor  as  soon  as  possible  to  put  again 
into  a  proper  condition  ;  to  do  which,  and  to  refresh  our 
men,  are  two  principal  motives  for  going  there." 

Howe,  checked  by  the  storm  for  two  days,  resumed 
his  march  towards  the  Schuylkill.  Directly  in  his  route, 
at  a  short  distance  in  his  advance,  was  a  quantity  of  flour 
stored  in  some  mills  which  it  was  important  to  destroy. 
For  this  purpose  Colonel  Hamilton  went  forward  on  the 
eighteenth  of  September  with  a  small  party  of  horse 
under  Captain  Lee,  a  gallant  dragoon  officer  of  Virginia. 
The  approach  to  the  mills  was  by  a  road  descending  a 
long  hill  to  a  bridge  over  the  mill  race.  On  its  summit 
two  videttes  were  posted.  Soon  after  the  party  reached 
the  mills,  Hamilton  secured  a  flat-bottomed  boat,  by  which 
he  could  effect  his  escape  should  the  enemy  overtake 


280  THE   KEPUBLIC.  [1777. 

them.  A  few  moments  showed  the  prudence  of  this 
precaution.  A  detachment  of  the  enemy  had  been  or- 
dered to  take  possession  of  these  mills.  The  fire  of  the 
videttes  gave  the  alarm.  The  dragoons  were  ordered  in- 
stantly to  embark.  Four  of  them,  with  Hamilton,  jumped 
into  the  boat,  while  the  enemy's  horse  came  clattering 
down  the  hill  in  pursuit  of  two  of  the  flying  videttes. 
Lee,  hoping  to  regain  the  bridge,  trusted  to  his  horse. 
This  diverted  the  pursuing  party  for  a  moment,  while 
Hamilton,  struggling  against  the  furious  current  of  the 
river,  swollen  by  the  recent  tempest,  gained  the  shore  in 
safety,  though  volleys,  which  were  returned  at  intervals, 
were  fired  into  the  boat,  by  which  two  of  the  party  suf- 
fered. Lee,  equally  fortunate  with  Hamilton,  owed  his 
safety  to  the  fleetness  of  his  horse.* 

Colonel  Hamilton  instantly  wrote  to  the  President  of 
Congress :  "  If  Congress  have  not  yet  left  Philadelphia, 
they  ought  to  do  it  immediately  without  fail,  for  the  enemy 
have  the  means  of  throwing  a  party  this  night  into  the 
city.  I  just  now  crossed  the  Valley  ford,  in  doing  which 
a  party  of  the  enemy  came  down  and  fired  upon  us  in  the 
boat,  by  which  means  I  lost  my  horse.  One  man  was 
killed  and  another  wounded.  The  boats  were  abandoned 
and  will  fall  into  their  hands.  I  did  all  I  could  to  prevent 
it,  but  to  no  purpose." 

At  nine  o'clock  at  night  he  again  wrote  to  Hancock : 
"  I  did  myself  the  honor  to  write  you  a  hasty  line  this 
evening,  giving  it  as  my  opinion  that  the  city  was  no 
longer  a  place  of  safety  for  you.  I  write  you  again  lest 
that  letter  should  not  get  to  hand.  The  enemy  are  on  the 
road  to  Swede's  ford,  the  main  body  about  four  miles  from 
it.  They  sent  a  party  this  evening  to  Daverser's  ferry, 
which  fired  upon  me  and  some  others  in  crossing  it,  killed 

*  Lee's  Southern  War,  i.  19. 


/Ex.  20.]  HAMILTON. 

one  man,  wounded  another,  and  disabled  my  horse.  Thev 
came  on  so  suddenly  that  one  boat  was  left  adrift  on  the 
other  side,  which  will  of  course  fall  into  their  hands,  and 
by  the  help  of  that  they  will  get  possession  of  another 
which  was  abandoned  by  those  who  had  the  direction  of 
it,  and  left  afloat,  in  spite  of  every  thing  that  I  could  do 
to  the  contrary.  These  two  boats  will  convey  fifty  men 
across  at  a  time,  so  that  in  a  few  hours  they  may  throw 
over  a  large  party,  perhaps  sufficient  to  overmatch  the 
militia  who  may  be  between  them  and  the  city.  This 
renders  the  situation  of  Congress  extremely  precarious,  if 
they  are  not  on  their  guard.  My  apprehensions  for  them 
are  great,  though  it  is  not  improbable  they  may  not  be 
realized.  The  most  cogent  reasons  oblige  me  to  join  the 
army  this  night,  or  I  should  have  waited  upon  you  myself. 
I  am  in  hopes  our  army  will  be  up  with  the  enemy  before 
they  pass  the  Schuylkill.  If  they  are,  something  serious 
will  ensue." 

Congress  had  resolved,  should  it  be  necessary,  to  ad- 
journ to  Lancaster,  about  sixty  miles  west  of  Philadelphia. 
On  receiving  this  intelligence  they  left  the  city. 

"  Not  at  all  unprepared  for  this,  Adams  was  up  be- 
times, mounted  his  horse,"  hastened  to  Trenton,  and  thence 
by  Bethlehem  to  Lancaster,  "  the  course  circuitous  enough, 
more  than  doubling  the  direct  distance  between  the  ends 
of  the  journey."  * 

Again  he  is  seen,  still  chairman  of  the  Board  of  War, 
indulging,  on  his  hurried  route,  in  censures  upon  Wash- 
ington. "It  was  a  false  alarm  which  occasioned  our 
flight  from  Philadelphia.  Not  a  soldier  of  Howe's  has 
crossed  the  Schuylkill.  Washington  has  again  crossed  it, 
which,  I  think,  is  a  very  injudicious  manoeuvre."  Then 
looking  to  the  advance  of  Burgoyne,  he  writes :  "  1  fear 

*  Life  of  Adams,  i.  267.     Diary  of  Adams,  ii.  439. 


282  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

he  will  deceive  Gates,  who  seems  to  be  acting  the  same 
timorous,  defensive  part,  which  has  involved  us  in  so  many 
disasters.  O,  Heavens !  grant  us  one  great  soul !  One 
leading  mind  would  extricate  the  best  cause  from  that 
ruin  which  seems  to  await  it  for  the  want  of  it.  We  have 
as  good  a  cause  as  ever  was  fought  for ;  we  have  great 
resources ;  the  people  are  well  tempered ;  3ne  active, 
masterly  capacity  would  bring  order  out  of  this  confu- 
sion, and  save  this  country." 

After  an  engagement  between  Generals  Grey  and 
Wayne,  in  which  the  latter  was  worsted,  the  enemy 
crossed  the  Schuylkill,  and  encamped  upon  its  banks. 

The  condition  of  the  Americans  now  rendered  una- 
voidable a  resort  to  a  most  unpalatable  measure.  Con- 
gress, anticipating  the  emergency,  had  given  Washington 
plenary  powers  to  suspend  all  officers  who  should  misbe- 
have, to  fill  up  all  vacancies  under  the  rank  of  brigadiers, 
to  impress  supplies  for  the  army,  giving  certificates,  and 
to  remove  and  secure  for  the  benefit  of  the  owners  all 
goods  and  effects  which  might  be  serviceable  to  the  ene- 
my. These  powers  were  to  be  exercised  within  a  com- 
pass of  twenty  miles  from  head-quarters,  and  to  continue 
in  force  sixty  days,  unless  revoked. 

Hamilton  was  selected  to  perform  a  delicate  task, 
under  instructions  drawn  by  himself  and  signed  by  Wash- 
ington, dated  the  twenty-second  of  September. 

"The  distressed  situation  of  the  army,  for  want  of 
blankets  and  many  necessary  articles  of  clothing,  is  truly 
deplorable ;  and  must  inevitably  be  destructive  to  it,  un- 
less a  speedy  remedy  be  applied.  Without  a  better  sup- 
ply than  they  at  present  have,  it  will  be  impossible  for  the 
men  to  support  the  fatigues  of  the  campaign  in  the  fur- 
ther progress  of  the  approaching  inclement  season.  This 
you  well  know  to  be  a  melancholy  truth.  It  is  equally 


^Ex.  2U.J  HAMILTON.  283 

the  dictate  of  common  sense  and  the  opinion  of  the  phy- 
sicians of  the  army  as  well  as  of  every  officer  in  it.  No 
supply  can  be  drawn  from  the  public  magazines.  We 
have,  therefore,  no  resource  but  from  the  private  stock  of 
individuals.  I  feel,  and  I  lament,  the  absolute  necessity 
of  requiring  the  inhabitants  to  contribute  to  those  wants 
which  we  have  no  other  means  of  satisfying,  and  which, 
if  unremoved,  would  involve  the  ruin  of  the  army,  and, 
perhaps,  the  ruin  of  America. 

"  Painful  as  it  is  to  me  to  order,  and  as  it  will  be  to 
you  to  execute  the  measure,  I  am  compelled  to  desire  you 
immediately  to  proceed  to  Philadelphia,  and  there  procure 
from  the  inhabitants,  contributions  of  blankets  and  cloth- 
ing, and  materials  to  answer  the  purposes  of  both,  in  pro- 
portion to  the  ability  of  each.  This  you  will  do  with  as 
much  delicacy  and  discretion  as  the  nature  of  the  business 
demands ;  and  I  trust  the  necessity  will  justify  the  pro- 
ceeding in  the  eyes  of  every  person  well  affected  to  the 
American  cause  ;  and  that  all  good  citizens  will  cheerfully 
afford  their  assistance  to  soldiers  whose  sufferings  they 
are  bound  to  commiserate,  and  who  are  eminently  exposed 
to  danger  and  distress  in  defence  of  every  thing  they 
ought  to  hold  dear. 

"  As  there  are  also  a  number  of  horses  in  Philadelphia, 
both  of  public  and  private  property,  which  would  be  a 
valuable  acquisition  to  the  enemy,  should  the  city  by  any 
accident  fall  into  their  hands,  you  are  hereby  authorized 
and  commanded  to  remove  them  thence  into  the  country, 
to  some  place  of  greater  security,  and  more  remote  from 
the  operations  of  the  enemy. 

"You  will  stand  in  need  of  assistance  from  others  to 
execute  this  commission  with  dispatch  and  propriety  ;  and 
you  are  therefore  empowered  to  employ  such  persons  as 
you  shall  think  proper  to  aid  you  therein." 


2S4  THE   HE  PUBLIC.  [1777. 

While  engaged  at  Philadelphia  upon  this  ungracious 
service,  he  received  a  line  from  Washington :  "  Your  own 
prudence  will  point  the  least  exceptionable  means  to  be 
pursued ;  but,  remember,  delicacy  and  a  strict  adherence 
to  the  ordinary  mode  of  application  must  give  place  to 
our  necessities.  We  must,  if  possible,  accommodate  the 
soldiers  with  such  articles  as  they  stand  in  need  of,  or  we 
shall  have  just  reason  to  apprehend  the  most  injurious  and 
alarming  consequences  from  the  approaching  season." 

In  the  execution  of  this  duty,  Hamilton  addressed  a 
letter  in  the  name  of  the  commander-in-chief  to  the  ladies 
of  Philadelphia,  enforcing  upon  them  the  claims  of  their 
country,  which  he  afterwards  alluded  to  as  among  the 
most  successful  of  his  youthful  productions.  It  is  not  pre- 
served. 

"  All  the  efforts,"  it  is  stated,*  "  of  this  very  active 
officer  could  not  obtain  a  supply  in  any  degree  adequate 
to  the  pressing  and  increasing  wants  of  the  army."  He 
also  caused  the  military  stores  and  vessels  to  be  removed 
up  the  Delaware.  "  This  duty  was  executed  with  so  much 
vigilance  that  very  little  public  property  fell  with  the  city 
into  the  hands  of  the  enemy."  f 

Upon  reaching  Philadelphia,  Hamilton  again  wrote  to 
the  President  of  Congress  :  "  I  left  camp  last  evening,  and 
came  to  this  city  to  superintend  the  collection  of  blankets 
and  clothing  for  the  army.  Mr.  Lovell  sends  to  inform 
me  there  is  an  express  going  off  to  Congress,  and  I  do 
myself  the  honor  to  communicate  a  brief  state  of  things 
when  I  left  camp.  The  enemy  moved  yesterday  from 
where  they  lay  to  Valley  Forge,  and  higher  up  the  river, 
on  their  old  scheme  of  gaining  our  right.  I  don't  know 
precisely  where  they  halted,  but  our  army  was  preparing 
to  move  up  also  to  counteract  them.  I  am  this  moment 

*  Marshall,  L  168.  f  Ibid. 


Mr.  20.]  HAMILTON.  £85 

told  they  marched  about  twelve  o'clock  at  night  for  that 
purpose.  The  general  opinion  was,  that  the  enemy  would 
attempt  crossing  this  day — every  appearance  justified  the 
supposition.  We  had  intelligence  that  the  enemy  had,  the 
night  before  last,  surprised  Generals  Smallwood  and 
Wayne,  and  consequently  dispersed  them,  after  a  small 
opposition.  The  loss,  it  is  said,  was  not  great,  and  our 
troops  were  re-assembling  fast  at  the  Red  Lion.  This 
seems  to  have  been  a  bad  look-out,  and  is  somewhat  dis- 
concerting. 

"  By  a  letter  from  General  McDougall,  received  this 
morning,  it  appears  he  was  on  the  twentieth,  in  the  morn- 
ing, at  Second  River,  just  setting  out  on  his  march  towards 
Woodbridge.  He  is  pressing  forward  with  all  possible 
expedition.  The  troops  were  pretty  well  refreshed  and 
in  good  spirits." 

Having  performed  these  services,  Hamilton  hastened 
to  the  camp  near  Pott's  grove,  whence,  in  the  name  ot 
Washington,  he  wrote  to  Congress  on  the  twenty-third, 
detailing  the  movements  of  the  army  : 

"  I  have  not  had  the  honor  to  address  you  since  your 
adjournment  to  Lancaster,  and  I  sincerely  wish  that  my 
first  letter  was  upon  a  more  agreeable  subject.  The  ene- 
my, by  a  variety  of  perplexing  manoeuvres  through  a  coun- 
try from  which  I  could  not  derive  the  least  intelligence 
(being  to  a  man  disaffected),  contrived  to  pass  the  Schuyl- 
kill  last  night  at  the  Flatland  and  other  fords  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  it.  They  marched  immediately  towards  Phila- 
delphia, and  I  imagine  their  advanced  parties  will  be  near 
that  city  to-night.  They  had  so  far  got  the  start  before  I 
received  certain  intelligence  that  any  considerable  num- 
bers had  crossed,  that  I  found  it  vain  to  think  of  overtak- 
ing their  rear  with  troops  harassed  as  ours  had  been  with 
constant  marching  since  the  battle  of  Brandywine ;  and 


286  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777 

therefore  concluded,  by  the  advice  of  all  the  general  offi- 
cers, to  march  from  this  place  to-morrow  morning  towards 
Philadelphia,  and  on  the  way  endeavor  to  form  a  junction 
with  the  continental  troops  under  Gen.  McDougall  from 
Peekskrll,  and  the  Jersey  militia  under  General  Dickinson, 
both  of  whom  are,  I  hope,  on  this  side  the  Delaware.  I 
am  also  obliged  to  wait  for  General  Wayne  and  General 
Small  wood,  who  were  left  upon  the  other  side  of  the 
Schuylkill,  in  hopes  of  falling  upon  the  enemy's  rear ;  but 
they  have  eluded  them  as  well  as  us. 

"When  I  last  reerossed  the  Schuylkill  it  was  with  a  firm 
intent  of  giving  the  enemy  battle  wherever  I  should  meet 
them,  and  accordingly  I  advanced  as  far  as  the  Warren 
tavern  upon  the  Lancaster  road,  near  which  place  the  two 
armies  were  upon  the  point  of  coming  to  a  general  en 
gagement,  but  were  prevented  by  a  most  violent  flood  of 
rain  which  continued  all  the  day,  and  following  night. 
When  it  held  up,  we  had  the  mortification  to  find  that  our 
ammunition,  which  had  been  completed  to  forty  rounds  a 
man,  was  entirely  ruined,  and  in  that  situation  we  had 
nothing  left  for  it,  but  to  find  out  a  strong  piece  of  ground 
which  we  could  easily  maintain  till  we  could  get  the  arms 
put  into  order  and  a  recruit  of  ammunition.  Before  this 
could  be  fully  effected,  the  enemy  marched  from  their  po- 
sition near  the  White  Horse  tavern,  down  the  road  lead- 
ing to  the  Swede's  ford.  I  immediately  crossed  the 
Schuylkill  above  them,  and  threw  myself  full  in  their 
front,  hoping  to  meet  them  in  their  passage  or  soon  after 
they  had  passed  the  river.  The  day  before  yesterday 
they  were  again  in  motion,  and  marched  rapidly  up  the 
road  leading  towards  Reading.  This  induced  me  to  be- 
lieve that  they  had  two  objects  in  view,  one  to  get  round 
the  right  of  the  army,  the  other  perhaps  to  detach  parties 
to  Reading  where  we  had  considerable  quantities  of  mili- 


^T.  20.]  HAMILTON.  287 

tary  stores.  To  frustrate  those  intentions,  I  moved  the 
army  up  on  this  side  the  river  to  this  place,  determined  to 
keep  pace  with  them ;  but  early  this  morning  I  received 
intelligence  that  they  had  crossed  at  the  fords  below. 
Why  I  did  not  follow  immediately,  I  have  mentioned  in 
the  former  part  of  my  letter.  But  the  strongest  reason 
against  being  able  to  make  a  forced  march  is  the  want  ef 
shoes.  Messrs.  Carroll,  Chase  and  Penn,  who  were  some 
days  with  the  army,  can  inform  Congress  in  how  deplor- 
able a  situation  the  troops  are  for  want  of  that  necessary 
article.  At  least  one  thousand  men  are  barefooted,  and 
have  performed  the  marches  in  that  condition.  I  was 
told  of  a  great  number  of  shoes  in  the  hands  of  private 
people  in  Philadelphia,  and  sent  down  to  secure  them ; 
but  I  doubt  the  approach  of  the  enemy  will  prevent  it. 
I  have  planned  a  method  of  throwing  a  garrison  into  Fort 
Mifflin.  If  it  succeeds,  and  they,  with  the  assistance  of 
the  ships  and  galleys,  should  keep  the  obstructions  in  the 
river,  General  Howe's  situation  in  Philadelphia  will  not  be 
the  most  agreeable,  for  if  his  supplies  can  be  stopped  by 
water,  it  may  be  easily  done  by  land.  To  do  both  shall 
be  my  utmost  endeavor ;  and  I  am  not  yet  without  hope 
that  the  acquisition  of  Philadelphia  may,  instead  of  his 
good  fortune,  prove  his  ruin. 

"  General  St.  Clair,  who  has  been  constantly  with  the 
army  for  some  time  past,  can  give  you  many  pieces  of  in- 
formation which  may  have  escaped  me,  and  therefore  I 
refer  you  to  him  for  many  particulars. 

"  If  there  are  any  shoes  and  blankets  to  be  had  in 
Lancaster  or  that  part  of  the  country,  I  earnestly  entreat 
you  to  have  them  taken  up  for  the  use  of  the  army.  I 
have  been  informed  that  there  are  large  parcels  of  shoes 
in  particular,  there.  *  *  * 

"  I  have  ordered  all  the  Virginia  militia  who  are  toler- 


288  THE   KEPUBLIC.  [1777. 

ably  armed  to  come  forward  and  join  the  army.  Those 
who  have  no  arms  are  to  wait  at  Fredericktown  in  Mary- 
land, till  they  hear  whether  any  can  be  provided  for  them 
at  Lancaster.  You  will  therefore  be  pleased  to  make  in- 
quiry what  number  can  be  procured  there,  and  send  an 
express  to  Frederick  with  orders  for  as  many  men  to 
come  forward  as  there  are  arms." 

Three  days  after  the  date  of  this  letter,  Howe,  hav- 
ing detached  Cornwallis  to  take  possession  of  Philadel- 
phia, encamped  at  Germantown.  Here,  surprised  at  the 
spirit  of  his  enemy  at  Brandy  wine,  at  the  celerity  of  their 
rally,  and  the  boldness  with  which  a  second  engagement 
was  sought,  he  would  have  been  content,  if  permitted,  to 
enjoy  undisturbed  the  courtly  pleasures  of  Philadelphia, 
imagining  himself,  in  its  possession,  the  conqueror  of  the 
United  States.  The  Americans,  finding  all  resistance  in- 
effectual, took  post  in  a  strong  position  sixteen  miles  be- 
yond on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Schuylkill,  covered  by  the 
Skippack  creek. 

Hamilton  is  again  seen  addressing  letters  in  the  name 
of  Washington  to  the  Board  of  War,  to  Heath  and  Trum- 
bull,  pressing  reinforcements  and  encouraging  confi- 
dence. "  Many  unavoidable  difficulties  and  unhappy  inci- 
dents," he  wrote  the  latter,  "  that  we  had  to  encounter, 
helped  to  promote  his  (Howe's)  success.  This  is  an  event 
that  we  have  reason  to  wish  had  not  happened,  and  will 
be  attended  with  several  ill  consequences,  but  I  hope  it 
will  not  be  so  detrimental  as  many  apprehend ;  and  that  a 
little  time  and  perseverance  will  give  us  some  favorable 
opportunity  of  recovering  our  loss,  and  putting  our  affairs 
in  a  more  flourishing  condition.  Our  army  has  now  had 
the  rest  and  refreshment  it  stood  in  need  of,  and  our  sol- 
diers are  in  very  good  spirits." 

Gates  was  also  requested,  "if  his  services  could  be 


/ET.  20.J  HAMILTON.  289 

dispensed  with,  to  direct  the  immediate  return  "  of  Mor- 
gan's corps,"  whose  absence  had  been  seriously  felt.  The 
expectation  of  an  engagement  was  assigned  by  Gates  as 
a  reason  for  not  sending  him  forward.  "  In  this  situation," 
he  wrote,  "  your  excellency  would  not  wish  me  to  part 
with  the  corps  the  army  of  General  Burgoyne  are  most 
afraid  of." 

The  position  of  both  the  main  armies  was  taken  with 
reference  to  the  fortifications  which  had,  with  immense  la- 
bor, been  erected  on  the  borders  of  the  Delaware  under  the 
eye  of  Duportail,  a  skilful  engineer  from  France,  and  most 
worthy  man,  soon  after  appointed  a  general  of  brigade. 

The  object  of  these  works  was  to  render  Philadelphia 
inaccessible  by  water,  and  should  it  be  occupied  by  an 
overland  march,  to  control  its  supplies. 

Early  in  the  previous  month,  the  commander-in-chief 
had,  in  consultation  with  several  of  his  officers,  made  a 
careful  reconnaisance  of  these  defences.  The  result  of 
this  investigation  was  communicated  to  Congress  in  a  let- 
ter from  the  pen  of  Hamilton.  The  questions  were, 
whether  defences  could  be  most  effectually  made  at  Bil- 
lingsport  or  at  Fort  Island ;  and  whether  one  or  both 
should  be  maintained.  The  conclusion,  after  a  full  review 
of  the  relative  considerations,  was,  that  "  the  principal 
dependence  ought  to  be  upon  Fort  Island  and  the  obstruc- 
tions there ;  and  that  Billingsport  ought  not  by  any  means 
to  be  defended  more  than  as  a  secondary  object." 

The  erection  of  a  small,  but  strong,  work  at  Red  Bank 
was  suggested,  which,  though  it  could  not  be  rendered  im- 
pregnable, could  hold  out  a  long  time.  Such  works  as 
were  to  be  destroyed,  it  was  advised,  should  be  razed  im- 
mediately, and  such  additions  as  were  to  take  place,  to  be 
made  with  the  greatest  diligence  and  dispatch.  A  careful 
examination  of  the  adjacent  country  was  earnestly  recom- 
VOL.  I.— 19 


290  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777 

mended.  Fort.  Island  or  Mud  Island,  more  generally 
known  as  "  Fort  Mifflin,"  was  near  the  junction  of  the 
Schuylkill  with  the  Delaware.  Red  Bank  was  an  eleva- 
tion upon  the  Jersey  side,  where  a  fort  called  "  Mercer," 
was  constructed,  as  proposed.  Under  the  cover  of  these 
works,  and  in  mid-channel  of  the  Delaware,  chevaux-de- 
frise  were  sunk.  These,  it  was  believed,  could  not  easily 
be  removed,  and  would  prove  serious  and  dangerous  ob- 
structions. Similar  impediments  had  been  formed  below 
at  Billingsport.  In  aid  of  these  defences,  two  frigates 
and  several  galleys  were  relied  upon.  The  larger  of  these 
vessels  grounded,  and  was  captured.  Thus  a  command  of 
the  ferry  to  Jersey  was  obtained  by  the  enemy,  supplies 
were  thereby  furnished  to  the  city,  and  the  communication 
between  the  forts  and  their  source  of  supply  cut  off. 

The  loss  of  the  fort  at  Billingsport,  indicated  in  the 
recent  letter  to  Congress  as  probable,  soon  occurred.  It 
was  taken  possession  of  on  the  first  of  October  by  two 
regiments  under  Colonel  Stirling  after  a  slight  opposition, 
to  whose  support  another  regiment  was  detailed.  Thus 
weakened,  Cornwallis  with  the  British  grenadiers,  a  con- 
siderable force,  and  two  battalions  of  Hessian  grenadiers 
holding  Philadelphia,  Howe  seemed  to  present  a  favorable 
moment  for  attack. 

The  disposition  of  his  army  at  Germantown  encour- 
aged the  attempt. 

This  village  consisted  of  one  long  street.  On  either 
side  were  houses  built  in  the  ancient  German  mode  with 
thick,  strong  walls,  a  low  story,  and  a  steep,  overhanging 
roof.  Each  dwelling  stood  detached,  with  a  vacancy  or 
homestead  around  it.*  Removed  a  short  distance  on  the 

*  Tacitus  "De  situ,  &c.,  Germanise,"  xvi.  "Vicos  locant,  non  in  nostrum 
morem,  connexis  et  cohaerentibus  sedificiis  :  sunm  qnixque  domum  spatio  circuin- 
daf,  sive  adversns  casus  ignis  remedium,  sive  insei'-ia 


JET.  20.]  HAMILTON.  291 

same  line,  stood  a  large  stone  private  residence  in  the 
midst  of  a  greater  space,  known  as  "  Chew's  "  house,  the 
summer  abode  of  a  former  official  person. 

The  main  body  of  the  enemy  intersected  the  village 
near  its  centre  and  almost  at  right  angles.  It  lay  en- 
camped with  the  left  wing,  on  the  west  side  of  the  road 
leading  through  the  town,  flanked  by  the  Hessians,  covered 
by  the  Schuylkill  and  Wisahicon  Creek,  having  the  Ger- 
man chasseurs  in  front.  Their  right  wing  was  on  the 
east  side  of  the  road  extending  to  a  wood  about  a  mile 
from  the  town,  in  their  front  a  battalion  of  light  infantry, 
and  the  Queen's  American  Rangers. 

At  the  head  of  the  village  nearly  opposite  Chew's 
house,  were  stationed  the  fortieth  regiment  under  Lieu- 
tenant-colonel Musgrave,  with  a  battalion  of  light  infantry, 
the  out-guard  considerably  in  advance  near  a  small  emi- 
nence called  "  Mount  Airy." 

Washington,  reinforced  by  McDougall  from  New 
York  and  by  the  Maryland  and  Virginia  militia,  resolved 
to  strike  a  blow.  Dispositions  were  made  for  a  combined 
attack,  the  temper  of  the  troops  promising  a  happy  issue. 

Sullivan,*  in  command  of  his  own  and  Wayne's  divi- 
sion, forming  the  right  wing,  was  to  pass  along  the 
Monatawny  road,  and  attack  the  enemy's  left,  Conway 
marching  in  front.  The  divisions  of  Greene  and  Ste- 
phen to  form  the  left  wing,  and  moving  down  the  Skip- 
pack  road  to  attack  the  enemy's  right  in  front,  McDougall 
marching  at  their  head  to  file  off  and  attack  it  in  flank. 
Nash's  and  Maxwell's  brigades  were  to  join  the  reserve 
under  Stirling,  and  to  move  down  the  same  road.  Gen- 
eral Armstrong,  an  old,  tried  officer,  with  the  Pennsylva- 
nia militia,  was  to  pass  down  the  Ridge  road,  and  crossing 

*  This  statement  varies  a  little  from  the  received  account.     It  is  taken 
from  the  general  orders,  in  Hamilton's  handwriting. 


292  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777 

a  creek,  to  turn  the  left  flank,  and  attack  in  the  rear. 
Smallwood  and  Forman,  with  the  militia  from  Maryland 
and  Jersey,  were  to  gain  the  old  York  road  by  a  circui- 
tous route,  and  reaching  the  enemy's  encampment  by  a 
road  leading  to  the  Germantown  market  house,  to  attack 
the  right  wing  in  front  and  rear.  The  pioneers  of  each 
division,  with  all  the  axes  they  could  muster,  each  officer 
and  soldier  having  a  piece  of  white  paper  in  his  hat,  were 
to  move  in  front  of  their  respective  divisions.  Each  col- 
umn was  to  make  its  disposition  so  as  to  attack  the  pick- 
ets in  their  respective  routes  simultaneously  at  five  in  the 
morning,  with  charged  bayonets,  without  firing,  and  th^ 
column  to  move  on  the  attack  as  soon  as  possible.  They 
were  to  endeavor  to  get  within  two  miles  of  the  enemy's 
pickets  by  two  o'clock,  there  halt  till  four,  and  make  their 
dispositions  for  the  attack.  Proper  flanking  parties  were 
to  be  thrown  out  from  each  column,  and  communications 
between  the  continentals  and  militia  to  be  kept  up  by 
light  horse.  The  motive,  as  stated  by  Sullivan,  of  direct- 
ing so  large  a  force  upon  the  enemy's  right  wing,  was, 
that  if  it  could  be  forced,  it  must  surrender,  or  be  pushed 
into  the  Schuylkill. 

On  the  third  of  October,  at  evening,  the  Americans 
moved.  After  marching  all  night,  the  advance  of  the  right 
wing  under  Sullivan,  whose  road  was  most  direct,  reached 
the  enemy  before  sunrise.  Here  the  surprise  was  complete. 
The  enemy's  left  wing  gave  way  to  successive  charges 
through  their  encampment,  leaving  their  tents  standing, 
their  baggage,  and  part  of  their  artillery.  Sullivan  and 
Wayne  pursued  with  ardor.  At  every  fence,  and  wall,  and 
hedge,  a  stand  but  unsuccessful,  was  made.  In  the  mid  re- 
treat, M usgrave  had  the  presence  of  mind  to  occupy  Chew's 
house.  A  heavy  firing  being  heard,  Colonel  Pickering  was 
•directed  by  Washington  to  order  Sullivan  to  hold  his  fire, 


.£T.  20.]  HAMILTON. 

fearing  he  was  wasting  his  ammunition,  as  the  haziness  of 
the  morning  probably  prevented  a  certain  view  of  the 
enemy.  Pickering  reported  the  occupation  of  Chew's 
house.  The  question  was,  whether  to  attack  or  to  pass  it. 
Hamilton,  Pickering,  and  other  junior  officers  "  urged  with 
zeal "  *  that  it  be  passed.  Knox  was  of  a  different  opin- 
ion, and  prevailed.  A  summons  to  surrender  was  given. 
Musgrave  disregarded  it.  The  officer  bearing  it  was  shot. 

The  two  divisions  under  Sullivan  were  separated,  and 
did  not  reunite.  The  left  column  under  Greene  being 
obliged  to  make  a  circuit  was  unable  to  keep  pace  with 
the  right  wing.  Its  attack  was  three  quarters  of  an  hour 
later.  Here  the  enemy  were  also  driven  ;  but  while  ad- 
vancing, the  right  flank  of  Woodford's  brigade  was  ar- 
rested in  its  course  by  a  heavy  fire  from  Chew's  house. 
Impregnable  to  musketry,  this  brigade  was  drawn  off  to 
its  left,  and  its  field-pieces  directed  against  the  walls.  Be- 
ing six  pounders,  they  made  no  impression.  Here  the 
two  divisions  of  this  wing  were  also  separated,  nor  could 
they  be  reunited.  That  of  Greene  bearing  down  upon  a 
part  of  the  enemy's  right,  broke  it,  and  entered  the  village. 
Near  its  centre,  he  was  met  and  warmly  engaged  by  the 
main  body  of  the  British.  The  delay  in  his  attack,  the 
successive  halts  at  Chew's  house,  and  the  time  thus  given 
to  the  enemy  to  rally,  its  annoying  fire,  and  the  conse- 
quent separation  of  the  divisions,  were  seen  in  all  their 
consequences. 

The  confusion  which  followed  was  increased  by  the 
increasing  darkness,  for  the  sun  had  become  obscured. 
The  town  lying  low,  a  fog  still  hung  over  it,  and  the 
smoke  of  the  cannon  and  musketry  was  rendered  more 
dense  by  that  of  burning  hay  and  other  combustibles. 
Amid  this  thick  lurid  gloom,  friends  were  mistaken  for 

*  Lee's  Southern  War,  i.  29. 


294:  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

foes,  and  fell  under  a  misdirected  fire,  there  being  often 
no  other  guide  but  the  direction  of  the  shot,  and  no  other 
objects  but  the  flashes  of  the  guns.  Nor  was  the  plan  of 
battle  carried  into  full  effect.  It  was  too  complicated.* 
The  militia  under  Armstrong  came  up  too  late.  Those 
commanded  by  Smallwood  and  Forman  only  appeared  on 
the  ground  after  the  retreat  of  the  left  wing  had  begun. 
The  British  having  rallied,  Knyphausen  attacked  Sullivan, 
whose  troops,  unsupported,  having  expended  their  ammu- 
nition, alarmed  by  a  cry  that  they  were  surroundea,f  and 
seeing  other  troops  flying  on  their  right,  retreated  with  as 
much  precipitation  as  they  had  advanced,  disregarding 
every  effort  of  their  officers  to  rally  them.  They,  how- 
ever, brought  off  their  cannon  and  their  wounded.  Two 
of  Sullivan's  aides  were  killed.  General  Nash  and  his 
aide  Witherspoon  received  mortal  wounds. 

Greene  was  briskly  attacked  by  the  British  right. 
After  a  sharp  engagement,  two  of  his  brigades  which  had 
entered  the  town  began  to  retreat ;  those  more  advanced 
were  surrounded  and  made  prisoners. 

Greene  used  every  effort  to  check  the  panic,  and  to 
rally  his  retreating  troops,  turning  and  firing  again  and 
again  upon  his  pursuers,  nor  was  Wayne,  whose  hopes  of 
victory  in  his  gallant  onset  were  high,  less  determined. 
Reaching  an  eminence  in  his  flight,  he  turned  his  cannon 
upon,  and  brought  the  enemy  to  a  momentary  stand. 

The  result  of  this  action  again  showed  the  superiority 
of  a  disciplined  army  and  experienced  officers  over  gal- 
lant but  untaught  troops,  led  by  men  little  instructed  in 
the  art  of  war.  Fortunately  the  enemy  did  not  recover 
sufficiently  from  their  surprise  to  pursue  their  advantage, 
nor  in  the  obscure  light  would  they  at  first  dare  to  ven- 
ture far.  The  retreat  was,  therefore,  attended  with  small 

*  Lee's  Southern  War,  i   29.  f  Armstrong  to  Gates,  Oct.  9,  1777. 


&r.  20.J  HAMILTON.  295 

loss.  Of  the  British  five  hundred  were  killed  and  wound- 
ed, one-fifth  killed.  Among  these  were  General  Agnew 
and  Colonel  Bird.  Of  the  Americans,  nearly  double 
this  number  were  killed,  more  than  five  hundred  wounded, 
four  hundred  made  prisoners ;  of  the  latter  was  Colonel 
Matthews  of  Virginia,  a  gallant  soldier. 

Stephen's  division,  badly  commanded,  did  little  more 
than  increase  the  confusion.  Their  commander  was 
cashiered  for  intoxication  and  misconduct  in  the  retreat, 
and  La  Fayette  appointed  to  the  command  of  his  division. 
Colonel  Musgrave  for  his  service  in  Chew's  house  received 
a  most  marked  commendation  from  his  sovereign ;  and 
Congress  passed  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Washington  and  his 
army,  approving  the  plan  of  battle,  and  applauding  their 
courage.  "  Though  in  part  unfortunate,  it  is  a  great  and 
happy  thing,"  was  the  comment  of  old  General  Arm- 
strong ;  nor  did  the  bold  attempt  escape  the  eye  of 
France,  looking  with  impatience  to  some  warrant  for 
openly  espousing  the  cause  of  America. 

Washington  retreated  the  same  day  to  Perkiomen 
Creek,  whence  he  resumed  his  position  on  Skippack 
Creek.  The  seventh  of  October,  three  days  after  the 
battle,  Hamilton,  in  his  name,  wrote  to  Congress : 

"  It  is  with  much  chagrin  and  mortification,  I  add,  that 
every  account  confirms  the  opinion  I  at  first  entertained, 
that  our  troops  retreated  at  the  instant  when  victory  was 
declaring  herself  in  our  favor.  The  tumult,  disorder,  and 
even  despair,  which,  it  seems,  had  taken  place  in  the  Brit- 
ish army,  were  scarcely  to  be  paralleled ;  and,  it  is  said, 
so  strongly  did  the  ideas  of  a  retreat  prevail,  that  Chester 
was  fixed  on  as  their  rendezvous.*  I  can  discover  no 

*  "  We  know,''  writes  Keith  to  Lamb,  "  the  enemy  had  orders  to  retreat 
and  rendezvous  at  Chester,  and  that  upwards  of  two  thousand  Hessians  had 
Actually  crossed  the  Sclnyll--jll  for  that  purpose;  that  the  tories  were  in  the 


296  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1777 

other  cause  for  not  improving  this  happy  opportunity, 
than  the  extreme  haziness  of  the  weather.  My  intention 
is  to  encamp  the  army  at  some  suitable  place  to  rest  and 
refresh  the  men,  and  recover  them  from  the  remaining 
effects  of  that  disorder  naturally  attendant  on  a  retreat. 
We  shall  here  wait  for  the,  reinforcements  coming  on,  and 
shall  then  act  according  to  circumstances."  A  statement 
was  added  of  the  misconduct  of  a  part  of  the  crews  in 
l.he  Delaware,  of  the  want  of  general  officers,  with  a  spe- 
cial recommendation  of  McDougall  for  promotion.  Hap- 
py in  the  opportunity  of  exhibiting  his  gratitude  for  his 
early  countenance,  Hamilton  observed  :  This  gentleman, 
from  the  time  of  his  appointment  as  brigadier,  from  his 
abilities,  military  knowledge  and  approved  bravery,  has 
every  claim  to  promotion.  If  I  mistake  not,  he  was  passed 
over  in  the  last  appointments  of  major-generals,  and 
younger  officers  preferred  before  him,  but  his  disinterested 
attachment  to  the  service  prevented  his  acting  in  the 
manner  that  is  customary  in  such  circumstances.  This,  I 
think,  gives  him  a  peculiar  title  to  esteem,  and  concurs 
with  the  opinion  I  have  of  his  value  as  an  officer,  to  make 
me  wish  it  may  appear  advisable  to  Congress  to  promote 
him  to  one  of  the  vacancies."  A  sense  of  the  injustice 
done  St.  Clair  also  prompted  the  expression  of  a  wish  that 
his  trial  be  brought  to  a  speedy  issue :  and,  if  acquitted, 
"  as  his  general  character  as  an  officer  is  good,  that  he 
may  again  be  restored  to  the  service."  McDougall  was 
in  a  few  days  promoted.  St.  Clair's  vindication  was 
later. 

The  issue  of  the  battle  of  Germantown,  inspiriting  as 
it  was  to  the  public  feeling,  furnished  conclusive  evidence 
that  in  the  present  condition  of  the  American  troops  the 

utmost  distress,  and  moving  out  of  the  city ;  that  our  friends  confined  in  the 
j*aols  made  it  ring  with  sliouts  of  joy." — Uft  of  John  I^mb,  184. 


^Er.  20.]  HAMILTON. 

hazards  of  another  battle  could  not  immediately  be  taken. 
Yet,  if  possible,  Howe  must  be  compelled  to  withdraw 
from  Philadelphia.  This  could  best  be  effected  by  cutting 
off  his  supplies.  The  American  position  now  at  White 
Marsh,  fourteen  miles  from  Philadelphia,  commanded  the 
fertile  region  interlying  the  Schuylkill  and  the  Delaware. 
Thus  nothing  could  be  obtained  by  the  enemy  in  this  di- 
rection. 

On  the  day  of  the  action  at  Germantown,  Admiral 
Howe  entered  the  Delaware,  and  two  days  after,  his  fleet 
and  transports  anchored  between  Reedy  Island  and  New- 
castle. Immediately  after  their  arrival,  General  Arm- 
strong was  instructed  in  a  letter  written  by  Hamilton  to 
send  a  body  of  Pennsylvania  militia  across  the  Schuylkill 
to  intercept  the  intercourse  between  Philadelphia  and 
Chester  ;  to  cut  off  the  convoys  of  the  enemy  ;  seize  the 
dispatches  between  their  army  and  shipping  ;  and  "  to  use 
every  method  to  prevent  their  getting  supplies  from  the 
country  around  them."  At  the  same  time,  the  more  im- 
portant measure  of  maintaining  the  river  obstructions 
was  taken.  Hamilton,  in  a  very  earnest  letter  of  instruc- 
tions in  Washington's  name  to  Colonel  Greene,  a  tried 
and  intrepid  officer  of  Rhode  Island,  charged  him  with  the 
care  of  Red  Bank,  detaching  two  regiments  of  continentals 
from  that  State  under  his  command,  to  co-operate  with 
Lieutenant-colonel  Smith  at  Fort  Mifflin,  and  with  Com- 
modore Hazlewood  in  the  river.  If  necessary,  the  forti- 
fication was  to  be  strengthened  or  contracted  under  the  im- 
mediate care  of  Duplessis,  a  gallant  nobleman  from  France, 
who  was  to  take  the  immediate  direction  of  the  artillery. 
The  closing  language  to  Colonel  Greene  is:  "You  will  be 
pleased,  sir,  to  remember,  that  the  post  with  which  you  are 
now  intrusted  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  America,  and 
demands  every  exertion  you  are  capable  of  for  its  security 


298  THE   KEPUBLIC.  [1777. 

and  defence.  The  whole  defence  of  the  Delaware  abso- 
lutely depends  upon  it,  and  consequently  all  the  enemy's 
hopes  of  keeping  Philadelphia,  and  finally  succeeding  in 
the  object  of  the  present  campaign.  Influenced  by  these 
considerations,  I  doubt  not  your  regard  to  the  service,  and 
your  own  reputation,  will  prompt  you  to  every  possible 
effort  to  accomplish  the  important  end  of  your  trust,  and 
frustrate  the  intentions  of  the  enemy." 

Fort  Mifflin  was  the  first  object  of  the  enemy.  Near 
it  was  a  small  island  called  Province  Island.  This  was 
taken  possession  of  by  them,  and  batteries  were  begun 
which  would  command  the  principal  work  at  Fort  Mifflin. 
Colonel  Smith  saw  his  danger  and  endeavored  to  gain 
them.  "  I  hope,"  Hamilton  wrote  him  in  Washington's 
name,  "  your  future  endeavors  may  be  more  successful. 
If  they  once  get  their  batteries  fairly  erected,  the  situa- 
tion of  your  garrison  will,  no  doubt,  become  very  trying ; 
but,  I  dare  say,  they  will  be  duly  impressed  with  the  im- 
portance of  the  trust  committed  to  them."  He  also  wrote 
to  Colonel  Greene  to  aid  him.  Greene  was  now  called 
upon  to  exert  all  his  valor.  On  the  twentieth  of  Octo- 
ber the  enemy  threw  a  body  of  troops  across  the  Dela- 
ware. As  the  object  obviously  was  either  to  storm  or  to 
invest  Red  Bank,  though  it  was  believed  the  hazards  of 
an  assault,  as  the  works  were  strong,  would  induce  the 
latter,  Hamilton  wrote  General  Forman,  in  the  name  of  the 
commander-in-chief,  requesting  him,  in  the  most  earnest 
manner,  to  use  his  utmost  exertions  immediately  to  collect 
as  large  a  body  of  militia  as  he  possibly  could,  and  hasten 
to  its  relief.  "  To  you  no  arguments  need  be  used,  either 
to  explain  the  importance  of  the  object,  or  to  stimulate 
your  zeal  for  its  preservation."  He  also  wrote  to  Hazle- 
wood,  Greene  and  D'Arendt  *  expressing  the  "  most  ar- 

*  Oct.  21.    • 


JET.  20.]  HAMILTON.  299 

dent  desire  that  harmony  and  a  good  understanding  be- 
tween the  fleet  and  the  garrisons  may  be  mutually  culti- 
vated. On  this  every  thing  depends ;  nothing  but  disap- 
pointment and  disgrace  can  attend  the  want  of  it.  The 
best  designs  and  most  important  pursuits  have  been,  and 
ever  will  be,  defeated  by  foolish  differences,  when  they  ex- 
ist between  those  engaged  in  them." 

The  effect  of  these  injunctions  was  now  brought  to  the 
test.  On  the  day  they  were  written,  four  battalions  of 
Germans,  amounting  to  about  twelve  hundred  men,*  com- 
manded by  Count  Donop,  landed  on  the  east  side  of  the 
Delaware,  and  moved  on  to  Haddonfield.  At  three 
o'clock  the  next  morning  they  advanced  towards  Red 
Bank,  but,  delayed  by  a  necessary  detour,  they  only  ar- 
rived at  noon  within  four  miles  of  the  fortification. 

This  fort  was  an  intrenchment — the  parapets  of  the 
retrenchments  effectually  fraised — in  the  centre  of  exten- 
sive unfinished  earthen  works. 

The  advance  of  the  enemy  was  first  descried  on  the 
edge  of  a  wood  to  its  north,  nearly  within  cannon  shot. 
Colonel  Greene,  too  weak  to  hold  the  extensive  outworks, 
retired  his  men  within  the  inner  intrenchment,  and  posted 
them  for  action.  A  summons  to  surrender  was  sent  for- 
ward. The  bearer  was  told  the  fort  "  would  never  be 
surrendered."  Donop,  who  had  come  on,  intending  a  de- 
liberate attack,  threw  up  a  battery,  and  commenced  a 
1  risk  cannonade. 

A  small  party  of  Virginia  troops,  ordered  in  the  emer- 
gency to  reinforce  Fort  Mifflin,  had  preceded  the  Hessians, 
and  reached  Colonel  Greene  on  its  route.  The  com- 
mander, Colonel  Simms,  proffered  his  aid.  At  first  it  was 
accepted,  but  Greene,  on  reflection,  declined  diverting  him 
from  his  destination.  Simms,  filing  off  through  the  postern 

*  Major  Ward  to  Washington,  Oct.  23,  1777. 


300  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777 

gate  of  the  fort,  embarked  in  boats  provided  to  convey 
him  across  the  river.*  Donop,  discovering  the  embarka- 
tion, and  not  doubting  that  it  was  a  part  of  the  garrison 
abandoning  the  post,  resolved  on  instant  assault.  He 
rushed  into  the  outworks,  and  finding  them  undefended, 
led  his  troops  up  to  the  abatis,  shouting  "  Victoria,"  and 
waving  their  hats.  A  deadly  and  continued  discharge  of 
guns  and  small  arms  met  the  assailants  in  front  from  the 
fort,  and  in  flank  from  a  part  of  another  looped  intrench- 
ment.  The  soldiers  reeled,  and  retreated  under  the  close, 
unerring  fire.  Their  officers  rallying  them,  were  seen  fall- 
ing, while  attempting  to  cut  a  way  through  the  abatis. 
Donop,  especially  distinguished  by  his  military  order,  by 
his  noble  figure  and  bearing,  was  mortally  wounded. 

Another  column  attacked  the  southern  part  of  the 
work,  passed  the  abatis,  traversed  the  fosse,  and  mounted 
the  berm.  A  few  got  over  the  pickets,  but  the  fire  from 
within  drove  them  back.  The  assailants  retreated  in  con- 
fusion, the  galleys  pouring  a  fire  upon  their  flank.  They 
lost  one-third  of  their  number,  of  the  garrison  only  eight 
were  killed,  seven  and  twenty  wounded. 

The  plan  being  a  simultaneous  attack  on  both  the  op- 
posite forts,  the  enemy's  fleet  had  been  signalled  to  ad- 
vance. The  Augusta,  a  sixty-four,  the  Roebuck,  a  forty- 
four,  the  Merlin  of  eighteen  guns,  and  a  galley,  came  up 
through  the  lower  chevaux  de  frisc,  and  were  attacked  by 
the  American  floating  batteries  and  galleys.  Seeing  the 
repulse  of  Donop,  the  enemy's  vessels,  the  next  day,  en- 
deavored to  fall  down  the  river.  The  Augusta  and  Mer- 
lin grounded.  An  incessant  fire  was  kept  upon  them, 
and  they  exploded,  The  firing  now  ceased  on  both  sides, 
when  the  Roebuck  dropped  down,  and  passed  the  lower 
works.f 

*  Lee's  Southern  War,  i.  33.      f  Commodore  Hazlewood's  Report.  Oct.  26, 


^ET.  20.J  HAMILTON.  301 

Congress  paid  the  honors  due  for  this  gallant  defence 
to  Greene,  Smith  and  Hazlewood,  voting  to  each  the 
thanks  of  the  American  people,  and  an  emblematic  sword. 

Sad  hours  had  meanwhile  passed  on  the  eastern  bank 
of  the  Delaware.  Extricated  from  among  the  dead 
bodies  of  his  soldiers,  the  youthful  Donop  was  approached 
by  Duplessis.  Perceiving  from  his  accent  that  he  was  a 
French  officer,  he  exclaimed  in  that  language,  "I  am 
content.  I  die  in  the  hands  of  honor  itself."  Tenderly 
nursed  by  Duplessis,  he  died  the  third  day.  From  his 
death  bed,  he  wrote  to  Count  St.  Germain,  commending 
this  young  officer  to  his  kindness.  As  his  last  moment 
approached,  contrasting  his  own  fate  with  that  of  the  gal- 
lant volunteer  in  a  glorious  cause,  the  expiring  soldier  said, 
with  his  latest  breath,  "  It  is  finishing  a  noble  career  ear- 
ly, but  I  die  the  victim  of  my  ambition  and  of  the  avarice 
of  my  sovereign."* 

••-]':   't'T'iil. !'<•'(      j<  -}.  tf^fi    »»«?l.*j/, 

*  De  Chatellux's  Travels,  260-266. 


CHAPTER    XI. 

THREE  days  after  these  brilliant  affairs,  authentic  advices 
were  received  of  the  issue  of  the  campaign  at  the  north. 
Although  Burgoyne  reached  Skenesborough  on  the  ninth 
of  July,  such  were  the  obstructions  interposed  by  Schuy- 
ler  and  the  difficulties  of  the  route,  that  his  progress  was 
very  slow.  On  both  sides  of  his  line  of  march  large 
trees  were  felled  into  his  path.  The  artillery  mired  at 
every  step.  So  numerous  were  the  creeks  and  marshes, 
forty  bridges  or  causeways  were  constructed  by  him,  one 
nearly  two  miles  long,  of  logs.  The  scalping  of  a  young 
female  under  circumstances  of  sad  and  peculiar  interest 
had  roused  the  whole  country  ;  vengeful  wrath  succeeding 
to  affright. 

Delayed  in  this  wilderness  by  the  unexpected  impedi- 
ments, and  afflicted  with  the  barbarity  of  his  savage  allies 
which  he  labored  to  prevent,  Burgoyne  did  not  encamp 
upon  the  Hudson,  until  after  the  lapse  of  sixteen  days,  a 
distance  from  Fort  Georg  3  of  only  eighteen  miles.  He  was 
now  buoyant  with  the  hope  that  the  prize  was  within  his 
grasp.  Yet  the  spirit  of  his  enemy  ought  to  have  warned 
him  of  his  dangers.  On  his  way,  a  sally  was  made  from 
Fort  Anne.  The  Americans  were  driven  back.  They 
again  formed  and  rushed  on,  their  officers  shouting  to 


^Ex.  20.]  II  A  II  I  L  T  O  X .  393 

them  to  advance,  driving  the  British  before  them.  These 
retreated  to  a  hill,  where  the  pursuit  ceased  for  want  of 
ammunition.  Even  the  picket  guard  had  not  bullets  for 
the  night. 

The  scenes  of  distress  among  the  poor  inhabitants,  fly- 
ing from  their  farms  and  habitations,  were  most  grievous  ; 
their  immense  crops  of  wheat  and  corn  destroyed  or 
abandoned,  many  of  them,  without  means  of  subsistence. 

On  the  approach  of  Burgoyne,  Schuyler  retired  from 
Fort  Edward  to  Saratoga,  where  he  issued  a  proclamation 
invoking  the  people  to  repair  to  his  standard,  and  threat- 
ening punishment  as  traitors  to  those  joining  the  enemy. 
His  total  force  was  two  thousand  five  hundred  continen- 
tals, and  two  thousand  militia.  The  British  and  German 
regulars  advancing  upon  him,  were  about  six  thousand. 

Hoping  reinforcements,  he  intended  taking  advantage 
of  some  heights  at  Moses  Creek,  five  miles  below,  there 
to  have  met  his  adversary.  No  reinforcements  came  up. 
"  A  great  part  of  the  militia  was  dismissed  to  reap  their 
harvests,  others  deserted  by  companies."  *  Thus  reduced, 
instead  of  strengthened,  Schuyler  retired  to  Stillwater,  a 
few  miles  down  the  Hudson.  Here  at  first  he  ordered 
Lincoln  to  join  him.  But  learning  the  embarrassments  of 
Burgoyne,  and  the  feeble  garrison  at  Ticonderoga,  he  di- 
rected him  with  the  eastern  militia  to  move  to  his  rear, 
and  cut  off  his  supplies.  Notwithstanding  his  own  dimin- 
ished strength,  being  informed  of  the  advance  of  St. 
Leger,  but  not  of  his  repulse,  he  ordered  Arnold,  as  ad- 
vised in  the  letter  written  by  Hamilton,  with  three  regi- 
ments of  regulars  to  relieve  Fort  Schuyler.  Thus  weak- 
ened by  these  provident  measures,  with  the  approval  of  a 
council  of  war,  he  fell  back  to  Van  Schaick's  Island,  a 
very  defensible  position,  at  the  confluence  of  the  Hudson 

*  Corres.  Revo'n.,  i.  515. 


304  THE    EEPUBLIC.  1777. 

and  the  Mohawk,  which  he  began  to  intrench,  intending 
to  make  a  stand.*  "  We  propose,"  he  wrote,  "  to  fortify 
our  camp,  in  hopes  that  reinforcements  will  enable  us  to 
keep  our  ground,  and  prevent  the  enemy  from  penetrating 
further.  Not  a  word  from  Massachusetts  on  my  repeated 
applications ;  nor  am  I  certain  that  Connecticut  will  af- 
ford us  any  succor."  f 

The  loss  of  his  means  of  transportation,  and  the  fear 
of  an  interruption  of  his  communications  with  Lake 
George,  whence  he  drew  all  his  supplies,  now  prompted 
Burgoyne  to  possess  himself  of  Bennington,  a  town 
twenty  miles  east  of  the  Hudson.  It  was  the  depository 
of  a  large  quantity  of  stores  and  wagons,  under  the  pro- 
tection of  small  temporary  groups  of  militia.  To  capture 
them  and  to  mount  his  cavalry,  he  detached  thither  a 
party  of  about  five  hundred  men  under  Colonel  Baume, 
one  third  dismounted  dragoons,  fifty  British  rangers,  the 
residue  provincials,  Canadians  and  Indians.  In  their  sup- 
port, he  ordered  Colonel  Breyman  to  proceed  to  Batten- 
kill,  on  a  rapid  stream  of  that  name  emptying  into  the 
Hudson,  and  advanced  his  main  body. 

Baume  encountered  a  much  larger  force  than  he  had 
anticipated,  led  on  to  battle  by  a  person  familiar  with 
arms.  John  Stark,  the  son  of  "  a  Glasgow  man,"  a  Scotch 
presbyterian,  had,  in  frequent  conflict  with  the  Indians, 
shown  such  prowess  as  "a  ranger,"  that  his  name  was 
familiar  to  the  ear  of  every  borderer  of  his  native  New 
Hampshire,  whose  energetic  colonial  militia  system  had 

*  V  General  Schuyler,  after  the  capture  of  Ticonderoga,  collected  the  scat- 
tered remnants  of  the  brigades  of  General  St.  Clair,  and  with  these  and  some 
militia,  gathered  by  great  exertions,  took  post  near  Halfmoon.  This  was  the 
nucleus  of  the  army,  which  was  afterwards  put  under  the  command  of  Gates." 
— Leben  und  Wirken  des  Friederichs  Adolph  Jiiedesel,  ii.  192.  Leipzig,  1836. 

t  Aug.  4. 


. 


^Er.  20.]  HAMILTON.  305 

well  prepared  her  for  the  struggles  of  the  revolution. 
He  was  at  the  battle  of  the  "  Bloody  Pond "  near  Fort 
Edward,  rose  to  the  rank  of  colonel,  was  with  Amherst  at 
the  taking  of  Ticonderoga  from  the  French ;  and  in  the 
region  near  which  he  now  rendered  his  most  signal  ser- 
vice to  his  country,  became  known  to  Schuyler  during  the 
advance  of  Lord  Howe.  At  Bunker's  Hill  he  was  on  the 
left  of  the  American  line ;  and  in  the  vanguard  with  Sul- 
livan when  he  dashed  into  Trenton.  Men  of  inferior 
merit  were  promoted  above  him.  He  retired  dissatisfied. 

Schuyler  knew  his  value.  He  appealed  to  his  patriot- 
ism, and  persuaded  him  in  this  great  emergency  to  resume 
his  sword.  The  militia  of  New  Hampshire  hastened  to 
his  standard,  and,  augmented  by  those  under  Warner, 
numbered  two  thousand  men. 

Baume  saw  his  danger,  ordered  Breyman  to  hasten 
forward,  and  quickly  intrenched  himself.  Stark  fulfilled 
the  promise  of  his  life.  He  boldly  stormed  the  intrench- 
ments,  killing  and  making  prisoners  near  the  whole  of  the 
enemy.  "The  militia,"  the  veteran  wrote,  " advanced 
through  fire  and  smoke,  and  mounted  breastworks  well 
fortified  and  defended  with  cannon." — "  The  battle  was 
the  hottest  I  ever  saw.  It  was  like  one  continued  clap  of 
thunder."  * 

Breyman  arrived,  but  too  late.  He  attacked  the  pur- 
suing militia,  when  Warner  came  up  with  a  party  of  con- 
tinentals. The  rest  of  the  Americans  followed.  After  a 
severe  conflict,  losing  his  baggage  and  artillery,  Breyman 
escaped  under  cover  of  night,  meeting  Burgoyne  ad- 
vancing with  a  small  force  to  his  aid.  "  Our  troops,"  Lin- 
coln wrote,  "  behaved  in  a  very  brave  and  heroic  manner. 
They  pushed  the  enemy  from  one  work  to  another,  thrown 

*  In  compliment  for  his  gallantry,  Massachusetts  voted  him   "  a  suit  of 
clothes  and  a  piece  of  linen." 

VOL.  I.— 20  '•-•''**  •; 


306  THE   KE PUBLIC.  [1777. 

up  on  advantageous  ground,  and  from  different  posts,  with 
spirit  and  fortitude,  until  they  gained  a  complete  victory." 
In  these  affairs  the  enemy  lost  six  hundred  men,  beside  a 
large  number  of  arms.  These  successes,  with  those  near 
the  Mohawk,  not  only  greatly  weakened  Burgoyne,  but 
imparted  a  new  courage  to  the  till  then  desponding 
Americans.  The  confident  letters  written  by  Hamilton 
from  head-quarters,  were  thus  fulfilled. 

The  defeats  of  these  detachments  took  place  on  the 
sixteenth  of  August.  Three  days  after,  at  the  moment 
of  his  dawning  glory,  when  the  New  York  regiments  had 
arrived  from  below,  when  Lincoln  was  about  to  join  him 
with  a  considerable  force,  when  Arnold's  return  was  ex- 
pected, and  Morgan's  rifles  were  at  hand,  and  the  army 
with  him  were  recovering  their  spirits,*  Schuyler  was 
superseded  in  his  command  by  the  arrival  of  Gates. 
Notwithstanding  this  gross  wrong  and  indignity,  he  was 
true  to  his  own  fame.  "  I  am  resolved,"  he  wrote,  "  to 
make  another  sacrifice  to  my  country,  and  risk  the  cen- 
sure of  Congress  by  remaining  in  this  quarter,  after  I  am 
relieved,  and  bringing  up  the  militia  to  the  support  of  this 
weak  army."  Do  what  Congress  might,  he  felt  that  he 
had  the  confidence  of  the  people  of  New  York  whom  he 
so  long  had  served.  "  Do  not,  my  dear  friend,"  he  wrote, 
"  be  uneasy  on  account  of  my  ill  treatment.  I  am  in- 
capable of  sacrificing  my  country  to  a  resentment,  how- 
ever just,  and  I  trust  I  shall  give  an  example  of  what  a 
good  citizen  ought  to  do  when  he  is  in  my  situation." 
His  first  act  proved  his  magnanimity.  Gates  was  met 

*  Jonathan  Trumbull  to  Governor  Trumbull,  Albany,  Aug.  6, 1777:  ''Our 
numbers  with  General  Schuyler  are  about  6,000,  including  militia ;  the  conti- 
nental troops  rising  of  4,000,  and  these  recovering  their  spirits,  and  beginning 
to  shake  off  their  panic.  The  tories  begin  to  think  there  is  no  faith  iu  Mistei 
Burgoyne.  nor  any  snfety  in  his  protections.'' 


^ET.  20.]  HAMILTON.  307 

with  courtesy.  "  When  he  took  the  command,"  Schuylcr 
wrote,  "  I  informed  him  that  I  had  advised  Congress  of  my 
intention  to  remain  some  time  in  the  department,  to  afford 
him  any  assistance  in  my  power,  and  entreated  he  would 
call  upon  me  whenever  he  thought  proper.  He  has, 
however,  not  done  it.  He  sent  for  General  Ten  Broek 
from  town  to  a  council  of  war,  but  not  for  me."  "  The 
commander-in-chief  of  the  northern  department,"  Morris 
answered,  "  may,  if  he  pleases,  neglect  or  disdain  to  re- 
ceive advice,  but  those  who  know  him  will,  I  am  sure,  be 
convinced  that  he  wants  it."  *  Schuyler,  removed  from 
command,  returned  to  Albany  to  quicken  the  advance  of 
the  militia,  and  forward  supplies  to  the  army. 

Soon  after,  Hamilton,  as  aide-de-camp,  acknowledged  f 
advices  received  from  Gates.  "  The  signal  advantages 
gained  over  the  enemy  by  Generals  Stark  and  Herkimer, 
at  so  gloomy  and  distressing  a  period,  were  events  as 
happy  as  unexpected,  and  bid  fair  entirely  to  change  the 
face  of  affairs,  and  frustrate  all  Mr.  Burgoyne's  sanguine 
expectations.  The  new  spring  they  must  have  given  to 
the  spirits  of  the  country,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  will  bring  you 
sufficient  reinforcements,  at  least  to  check  the  further 
progress  of  the  enemy,  and  prevent  their  reaping  the 
fruit  of  their  former  success."  Having  mentioned  the  re- 
cent approaches  of  the  enemy,  he  added,  "  As  the  Eastern 
States  can  be  no  longer  under  any  apprehension  of  a  visit 
from  Mr.  Howe,  his  intentions  against  Philadelphia  being 
reduced  to  a  certainty,  we  may  hope  our  northern  army 
will  derive  a  decisive  superiority  over  the  enemy  from  the 
full  exertion  of  the  whole  force  of  those  States." 

Two  days  after,  on  the  first  of  September,  he  again 
wrote  to  Gouverneur  Morris  : 

"  Agreeable  to  the  intention  of  the  council,  I  have  de- 

*  Life  of  G.  Morris,  i.  144.  f  Aug.  29. 


308  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

livered  their  inclosed  letter  to  his  excellency,  who,  after 
perusing  it,  has  sealed  and  forwarded  it  to  Mr.  Hancock. 

"  The  relieving  Fort  Schuyler  is  a  very  happy  and  im- 
portant event,  and  will  concur  with  the  two  happy  strokes 
given  by  Herkimer  and  Stark,  to  reverse  the  face  of 
affairs,  and  turn  the  scale  against  Mr.  Burgoyne.  I  hope 
Captain  Montgomery's  suggestions  may  be  right  as  to  his 
being  obliged  to  advance  ;  but  I  fancy,  if  he  once  thinks  it 
unsafe,  he  will  not  be  bound  by  such  an  empty  punctilio 
as  to  risk  the  destruction  of  his  arrny.  As  General  Howe 
is  now  fairly  set  down  to  the  southward,  the  Eastern 
States,  no  longer  under  any  apprehensions  from  him,  will 
be  disposed,  I  am  in  hopes,  to  exert  their  whole  force ; 
and  if  they  do,  I  shall  wonder  at  it  if  Mr.  Burgoyne  ad- 
vances with  impunity." 

The  defeat  at  Bennington  left  Burgoyne  entirely  de* 
pendent  for  his  supplies  on  Fort  George,  of  which  the 
outer  works  had  been  laid  in  ashes  by  the  Americans. 
The  delays  incident  to  their  transportation  compelled  him 
to  halt  until  the  thirteenth  of  September,  before  he 
crossed  the  Hudson,  which  he  did  on  a  bridge  of  boats, 
taking  post  on  the  heights  and  small  plain  of  Saratoga. 

His  expectations  of  aid  from  the  Americans  now 
wholly  failed  him.  "  The  great  bulk  of  the  country,"  he 
wrote  to  his  government,  "  is  undoubtedly  with  the  Con- 
gress, in  principle  and  zeal ;  and  their  measures  are  exe- 
cuted with  a  secrecy  and  despatch  that  are  not  to  be 
equalled.  Wherever  the  king's  forces  point,  militia,  to 
the  amount  of  three  or  four  thousand,  assemble  in  twenty- 
four  hours,  bring  with  them  their  subsistence,  and,  the 
alarm  over,  return  to  their  farms.  The  Hampshire  Grants 
in  particular,  a  country  unpeopled  and  almost  unknown 
the  last  war,  now  abounds  in  the  most  active  and  most 
'rebellious  race  of  the  continent,  and  hang  like  a  gathering 


^Er.  20.]  HAMILTON.  309 

storm  upon  my  left."     He  deplored  the  difficulty  of  intel- 
ligence from  Howe. 

Every  day  being  of  value  to  him,  he  commenced  his 
advance  along  the  western  margin  of  the  Hudson.  On 
both  sides  of  this  beautiful  river,  the  hills  which  had 
trended  to  the  west  and  south  near  Lake  George,  form- 
ing "  the  Oxbow,"  are  seen  facing  each  other  along  its 
narrow  course  in  almost  parallel  ridges  ;  those  on  the  east, 
backed  by  loftier  receding  elevations,  extended  to  the 
edge  of  the  stream.  On  the  western  bank,  continuous 
wooded  heights,  only  broken  by  deep  ravines,  left  a  small, 
winding  pathway.  The  inflowing  rills,  often  swollen  by 
the  quick  upland  storms,  were  bridged.  These  frequent 
bridges,  broken  up  by  Schuyler,  were  to  be  repaired,  and 
the  thicket  of  fallen  trees  to  be  removed. 

In  the  mean  time,  Gates  was  deriving  the  advantage  of 
the  efforts  and  counsels  of  Washington.  A  letter  of  the 
third  of  September  from  the  station  Schuyler  had  fallen 
back  to — Van  Schaick's  Island,  shows  the  necessity  of  that 
retrograde  movement  and  the  new  strength  he  was  gain- 
ing :  "  The  militia,"  he  wrote,  "  are  coming  daily  to  this 
camp,  and  General  Lincoln's;  and  I  have  the  most  san- 
guine expectations  of  being  very  soon  in  a  condition  to 
advance  upon  all  quarters.  General  Arnold's  division, 
together  with  the  reinforcement  I  sent  him,  are  all  re- 
turned, and  Colonel  Morgan's  corps  are  all  arrived  in 
camp."  Glover's  alert  and  dauntless  regiment  now  came 
up.  A  detachment  from  Lincoln's  force  had  recaptured, 
with  the  loss  of  only  nine  men,  the  old  French  lines  of 
Ticonderoga,  taking  three  hundred  prisoners,  two  hundred 
bateaux,  an  armed  sloop,  several  gun  boats,  arms  and 
ammunition.  Though  the  attempt  upon  the  fortress 
failed,  these  means  of  retreat  for  the  invading  army  were 
thus  lost. 


310  THE    REPUBLIC.  [177T. 

Lincoln  now  apprised  Gates  of  Burgoyne's  intention 
to  remove  his  heavy  cannon  to  a  position  where  the  river 
narrowed  above  Stillwater,  which  had  previously  been 
occupied  by  Schuyler,  and  advised  him  to  take  possession 
of  it. 

Thither  Gates  advanced,  and,  intending  to  receive  the 
enemy,  dispositions  for  defence  were  made. 

The  western  ridge,  known  as  "  Bemis  Heights,"  here 
rises  to  a  commanding  elevation,  from  which  were  seen 
the  blue  broken  mountain  chains  of  Vermont,  its  deep 
valleys  and  dark  forests,  under  intervolving  clouds  ;  and 
below,  the  Hudson  threading  its  way  through  a  narrow 
defile.  This  vantage  ground  had  been  selected  by  Arnold 
and  Kosciusko,  under  whose  practised  eye  intrenchments 
were  thrown  up  at  right  angle  to  the  defile,  with  enfilad- 
ing works  beginning  near  the  hill  top  and  ending  at  the 
river's  edge  in  a  large  battery,  to  protect  a  floating  draw- 
bridge turning  upon  swivels,  built  by  Schuyler  from  his 
own  purse.  In  front  of  these  intrenchments  were  thrown 
out  pickets,  covered  by  Mill  Creek,  beyond  which  the 
British  were  encamped. 

Upon  the  brow  of  this  hill  and  on  the  defile  was 
posted  the  right  wing  under  Gates,  formed  of  the  tried 
brigades  of  Glover,  Nixon  and  Patterson.  On  the  high 
battle  field  at  the  left  of  Gates  was  Arnold  with  Poor's 
New  Hampshire  men,  the  two  militia  regiments  of  New 
York  under  Livingston  and  Van  Courtlandt,  some  troops 
from  Connecticut,  Morgan's  sharp  shooters  in  advance. 
In  the  centre  were  Learned's  brigade,  and  several  militia 
regiments  of  Massachusetts  and  New  York. 

Burgoyne  advanced  with  presuming  confidence,  en- 
couraged not  a  little  by  the  recent  change  in  the  com- 
mand. He  had  felt  the  obstacles  interposed  by  Schuyler 
it  every  step  of  his  progress,  and  expected  to  encounter 


<Ei.  20.]  HAMILTON.  311 

his  energy  on  the  field  of  battle.  The  substitution  of 
Gates,  whom  he  called  "  an  old  midwife,"  he  felt,  assured 
him  an  easy  victory. 

Having  approached  the  American  position,  he  threw 
up  intrenchments,  and  on  the  nineteenth  of  September 
made  dispositions  for  an  attack,  his  left  wing  on  the 
river  border  under  Phillips  and  Riedesel,  including  the 
train  of  artillery  and  a  German  corps.  These  were  to 
move  down  the  river  defile.  Westward,  on  the  heights  in 
the  centre,  were  Burgoyne  and  Brigadier  Hamilton,  and 
on  their  right  Fraser,  Ackland,  Balcarras  and  Breyman, 
with  their  respective  corps  of  artillery,  infantry  and  rifles. 
These,  while  the  left  wing  was  engaged,  were  to  make  a 
circuit  through  the  woods,  and  fall,  at  a  concerted  signal 
from  that  wing,  upon  the  rear  of  the  Americans. 

While  the  British  left  advanced,  Gates  remained  in 
position  until  noon,  resolved  to  receive  them  covered  by 
his  intrenchments,  when  Arnold,  impatient  for  action,  was 
permitted  to  advance.  Morgan's  rifles,  thrown  forward, 
drove  the  front  picket  of  the  right  wing,  pushed  on  im- 
petuously, were  for  the  moment  repulsed,  and  retired 
upon  a  supporting  party  advanced  by  Arnold.  Morgan 
rallied.  Arnold  now  attempted  Eraser's  right,  but  too 
weak  to  overcome  him,  asked  reinforcements  from  Gates, 
who  refused  them,  "  as  he  would  not  suffer  his  camp  to  be 
exposed,"  threatened  as  he  feared  it  was. 

Arnold  then  changed  his  front,  and  under  cover  of  a 
thick  wood,  countermarched  to  Eraser's  left.  Here  were 
the  British  regiments  of  the  centre,  which  he  attempted  to 
break.  Their  right  wing  came  up — Balcarras  with  his 
grenadiers  preceded  by  Breyman  with  his  German  rifles. 
Four  New  England  regiments,  under  Lieutenant-colonels 
Brooks,  Cilley  and  Scammel,  reinforced  Arnold,  who 
drove  the  enemy  before  him.  Gates  remained  inactive 


312  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

in  his  quarters.  Had  his  wing  advanced,  for  at  this  time 
no  enemy  was  near  him,  victory  was  certain.  But  Phil- 
lips, disengaged,  was  thus  free  to  act.  A  part  of  his  artil- 
lery was  moved  through  the  woods,  and  with  Riedescl's 
heavy  dragoons  bore  upon  Arnold,  whose  strength  now 
amounted  to  three  thousand  men.  Frequent  charges  of 
the  British  bayonet  were  made,  but  the  Americans,  driven 
back,  came  up  and  repeatedly  renewed  the  fight.  The 
fluctuating  conflict  was  thus  continued  until  nightfall, 
when  the  Americans  retired  unmolested  to  their  lines. 
The  British  lay  near  the  field  of  battle  on  their  arms,  and 
claimed  the  victory.  The  Americans  felt  it  was  theirs. 
They  had  been  the  assailants  throughout  the  day,  and 
manfully  held  their  ground.  Their  loss  in  the  field  was 
less  than  that  of  their  adversary,  who,  now  deserted  in 
great  numbers  by  the  Canadians  and  Indians,  shrinking 
from  the  brisk  and  deadly  fire  of  Morgan  from  coverts 
and  tree  tops,  was  nearly  reduced  to  his  regular  troops. 

Burgoyne,  who  had  done  all  a  soldier's  duty  on  the 
field,  saw  his  danger,  but  still  resolved,  if  possible,  to  ad- 
vance, looking  for  succor  from  New  York,  and  relying  on 
the  discipline  of  his  troops.  Arnold  did  not  less  rejoice 
in  the  courage  of  the  soldiers,  and  bore  off  the  honor  of 
the  day.* 

Gates  alone  withheld  the  acknowledgment  of  his  mer- 
its. Conscious  of  his  own  inactivity,  he  omitted  all  men- 
tion of  him  in  his  brief  report  to  Congress,  f  In  this 
report  he  says  :  "  This  skirmish  "  (Morgan's)  "  drew  the 
main  body  of  the  enemy,  and  a  brigade  from  my  left  to 
support  the  action,  which,  after  a  short  cessation,  was  re- 
newed with  great  warmth  and  violence." 

*  "  The  enemy  were  led  to  the  battle  by  General  Arnold,  who  distinguished 
himself  in  an  extraordinary  manner." — Stedman's  History. 

f  Gates  to  President  of  Congress.     Camp  Height  above  Bemis,  Sept.  22. 


zEr.  20.]  HAMILTON.  313 

In  his  purposed  injustice  to  Arnold,  he  could  not  have 
passed  a  more  severe  censure  upon  himself;  that  an  ac- 
tion was  permitted  to  be  fought  by  a  brigade  drawn  from 
the  left,  without  his  order,  without  plan  or  concert,  with- 
out general  guidance,  with  "  the  main  body  of  the  ene- 
my," their  commander  at  their  head.* 

Indignant  at  the  withheld  reinforcements,  Arnold  pub- 
licly reproved  Gates,  who  thus  weakly  revenged  himself. 
His  plea  was  an  insufficiency  of  balls  and  ammunition. 
How  true,  it  is  not  now  easy  to  determine,  but  it  would 
be  remarkable,  if,  while  the  left  under  Arnold  was  amply 
supplied,  the  larger  body,  who  held  the  position  of  chief 
importance,  should  have  been  unprovided.  This  plea 
was  not  interposed  by  Gates  at  the  time.  It  would  seem 
to  have  been  an  afterthought. 

The  following  day  was  employed  by  either  army  in 
strengthening  its  position.  Burgoyne  was  now  within 
cannon-shot  of  the  Americans,  his  left  extended  from  the 
brow  of  the  heights,  covered  by  breastworks,  to  the  river, 
his  right  protected  by  new  intrenchments  from  hill  to  hill, 
upon  which  redoubts  were  erected.  The  chief  object  of 
the  Americans  was,  their  right  being  secure,  to  prevent 
being  outflanked  on  their  left,  as  the  centre  was  separated 
from  the  enemy  by  difficult  ravines.  With  this  view, 
their  intrenchments  were  carried  a  long  distance  over  the 
hills  to  a  crowning  eminence,  which  commanded  the  only 
access  on  the  heights  between  the  river  and  the  woods. 
Upon  this  eminence  a  log  fort  was  raised  in  the  centre  of 
the  line,  intrenched  and  palisaded,  while,  in  case  the 

*  "  The  engagement  first  began  with  the  riflemen  and  American  militia, 
who  were  supported  as  necessity  required,  without  any  previous  disposition.'' — 
Chastellmts  Travels,  i.  413.  Citil  War  in  America:  "Gates,  the  commander- 
in-chief,  remaining  in  a  star  redouht,  with  about  4,000  men  to  defend  his 
works." 


314:  THE   REPUBLIC. 

enemy  should  pass  its  fire,  successive  batteries  were 
formed  upon  a  ravine  running  south  towards  the  main 
position  on  the  river. 

The  day  after  the  battle,  a  message  from  Sir  Henry 
Clinton  reached  Burgoyne,  announcing  his  intention  to 
attack  the  forts  in  the  Highlands,  and  thence  to  advance. 

As  this  was  to  take  place  about  this  time,  Burgoyne 
replied,  detailing  his  situation,  urging  the  necessity  of  a 
diversion,  and  stating  his  purpose  to  wait  in  his  encamp- 
ment until  the  twelfth  of  October,  to  which  period  he 
hoped  his  provisions  would  last.  He  now  reduced  the 
number  of  his  rations,  and  proceeded  fortifying  his  camp. 

In  obedience  to  his  orders,  Lincoln  reached  Gates, 
bringing  tidings  of  the  recent  successes  of  his  detachment, 
to  Ticonderoga.  He  was  soon  followed  by  his  command, 
amounting  to  about  fourteen  hundred  men,  chiefly  moun- 
taineers. The  right  wing  of  the  American  army,  wholly- 
composed  of  eastern  troops,  continentals  and  militia,  was 
placed  in  his  charge. 

While  Burgoyne  was  in  anxious  suspense,  there  was 
strife  in  the  American  camp.  Arnold,  despising  and  re- 
senting Gates,  encouraged  by  previous  exhibitions  of  his 
weakness,  was  loud  in  censure.  He  insisted  upon  the 
command  of  the  left  wing.  This  Gates  refused.  He 
threatened  in  his  wrath  to  leave  the  camp.  The  subordi- 
nate officers  proposed  an  address  to  him  of  thanks  for  his 
recent  gallant  service,  and  urged  him  to  remain.  The 
general  officers  would  have  interfered  with  Gates,  but  he 
was  not  to  be  approached.  Arnold's  better  genius  at  last 
prevailed;  He  decided  not  to  go.  Wounded  by  ill  treat- 
ment, and  chafing  with  passion  under  Gates'  marked  dis- 
respect, he  at  last  wrote  him,  charging  him  with  being 
actuated  by  jealousy,  declaring  his  purpose  to  continue 
with  the  army  at  that  critical  junctur  ,g  ;v^rncd  by  "  zeal 


Mi.  20.]  HAMILTON.  315 

for  the  cause  of  his  country,  in  which  he  expected  to  rise 
or  fall." 

Congress  had  done  him  great  wrong,  in  despite  of 
Washington's  remonstrances.  He  was  now  insulted  in  the 
moment  of  signal  service.  A  sense  of  injustice  rankled 
in  his  bosom,  and  dire  thoughts  of  revenge,  perhaps,  now 
began  to  germ.  How  soon  was  taught  the  lesson  that 
brave  bad  men  are  not  to  be  trifled  with  by  those  in 
authority. 

Arnold's  exhortation  to  Gates  was  fully  warranted  by 
events  which  also  excited  great  solicitude  at  head-quar- 
ters, where  intelligence  was  received  on  the  seventh  of 
October,  that  the  enemy  had  proceeded  up  Hudson's 
River  from  New  York,  and  landed  at  Verplanck's  Point. 
Hamilton  immediately  *  wrote  to  Livingston,  governor  of 
New  Jersey,  in  the  name  of  Washington :  "  This  circum- 
stance is  somewhat  alarming,  as  the  situation  of  our  affairs 
this  way  has  obliged  us  to  draw  off  so  large  a  part  of  our 
force  from  Peekskill,  that  what  now  remains  there  may 
perhaps  prove  inadequate  to  the  defence  of  it.  Should 
any  disaster  happen,  it  is  easy  to  foresee  the  most  unhap- 
py consequences.  The  loss  of  the  Highland  passes  would 
be  likely  to  involve  the  reduction  of  the  forts.  This 
would  open  the  navigation  of  the  river,  and  enable  the 
enemy  with  facility  to  throw  their  force  into  Albany,  get 
into  the  rear  of  General  Gates,  and  either  oblige  him  to 
retreat  or  put  him  between  two  fires.  The  success  of  the 
present  attempt  upon  Peekskill  may,  in  its  consequences, 
entirely  change  the  face  of  our  northern  affairs,  and 
throw  them  into  a  very  disagreeable  and  unfavorable 
train."  In  this  view,  he  urged  him  to  march  as  large  a 
part  of  the  Jersey  militia  as  could  be  prevailed  upon  to 
go,  "  with  all  expedition  to  the  aid  of  Putnam." 

*  Oct.  8. 


316  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

"  You  will  not  only  keep  in  view  the  importance  of 
securing  these  passes,  but  the  necessity  of  doing  it  with- 
out delay,"  were  the  instructions  of  Washington  to  Heath 
the  day  before  he  passed  from  New  York  to  the  Jerseys 
in  the  previous  autumn.  "  Lose  not  a  moment  in  choos- 
ing the  grounds  on  the  east  and  west  side  of  the  river,  on 
which  your  intended  works  are  to  be  erected.  Let  your 
men  designed  for  each  post  be  speedily  allotted."  To  en- 
courage his  men  in  their  toil,  this  faithful  soldier  labored 
in  their  midst  with  his  own  hands,  and  the  defences  of  the 
Highlands  of  the  Hudson,  regarded  as  the  citadel  of  the 
nation,  were  vigorously  commenced. 

These  Highlands  begin  about  forty  miles  from  the  city 
of  New  York,  are  nearly  twenty  miles  in  width,  the  river 
passing  through  their  midst,  presenting  on  either  side,  for 
a  distance,  rugged  and  inaccessible  steeps. 

On  its  south-eastern  bank,  where  the  river  is  at  its 
narrowest  point,  rising  to  a  perpendicular  altitude  of  more 
than  a  thousand  feet,  is  an  elevation  known  among  the 
Dutch,  from  some  fancied  resemblance,  as  St.  Anthony's 
Nose,  its  base  washed  by  the  Peekskill.  On  this  was 
erected  Fort  Independence.  Another  fort,  six  miles 
above,  had  been  built  in  a  dip  of  these  Highlands,  called 
"Fort  Constitution."  These  constituted  the  fortified  de- 
fences on  the  eastern  banks. 

The  borders  of  the  Peekskill  had  been  selected  as  the 
station  for  the  troops,  sheltered  by  the  Highlands  from  the 
inclement  winds  of  the  long  winter,  earliest  approached 
in  the  spring,  and  drawing  its  supplies  of  men  and  arms 
by  a  short  route  from  the  most  peopled  parts  of  southern 
Connecticut. 

Upon  the  high  western  bank  of  the  Hudson,  the  plan 
of  a  fortification  had  been  laid  out  early  the  previous 
year,  which  was  called  "Fort  Montgomery."  It  was 


/Ex.  20.]  HAMILTON.  317 

seated  on  the  summit  of  a  spur  of  the  mountain,  here  a 
little  more  than  a  hundred  feet  high,  separated  from 
another  more  elevated  spur  by  a  small  creek  emptying 
into  the  Hudson,  on  which  was  built  another  work  called 
"  Clinton." 

The  former  of  these  was  much  the  larger.  Though 
probably  intended  as  a  permanent  fortification,  it  had 
more  the  character  of  a  field  work,  was  of  an  irregular 
form,  the  faces  of  its  enceinte  nearly  following  the  config- 
uration of  the  crest  •  of  the  elevation  on  which  it  was 
built.  The  general  outline  was  quadrilateral,  presenting 
oroken  fronts.  On  the  northern,  where  the  principal  as- 
sault was  made,  were  two  projections  en  cremaillere 
flanking  it.  The  southern  front  was  similarly  guarded. 

Fort  Clinton  is  described  *  "  as  a  circular  height  de- 
fended by  a  line  of  musketry  with  a  barbette  battery  in 
the  centre,  of  three  guns,  and  flanked  with  two  redoubts," 
though  its  form  was  also  four-sided.  One  of  these  re- 
doubts was  a  star  fort,  intended  probably  as  a  citadel ; 
the  other,  with  an  open  gorge,  occupied  an  elevated  point 
in  advance  of  the  western  and  southern  fronts,  overlook- 
ing the  slopes  and  furnishing  flanking  fires  to  these  fronts. 
The  guns  in  both  forts  numbered  sixty-seven,  a  few  of 
them  thirty-two  pounders,  with  every  requisite  means  of 
defence  in  abundance. 

The  approaches  to  Fort  Clinton  were  through  a  con- 
tinued abatis,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  length,  exposed  to 
the  fire  of  ten  pieces  of  artillery. f 

At  the  base  of  the  former  height,  a  heavy  boom  of 
timber  was  sunk,  and,  in  advance  of  it,  an  iron  chain  of 
great  strength  extended  from  shore  to  shore.  J  Behind 
these  were  two  frigates,  two  galleys  and  a  sloop-of-war, 

*  Sir  Henry  Clinton's  Report.  f  Civil  War  in  America,  327. 

|  Lee'o  Southern  War,  i.  13. 


318  THE   KEPUBLIO.  [1777. 

deemed,  with  the  commanding  fire  of  the  forts,  an  ample 
water  guard. 

These,  with  the  works  above,  "constituted  the  pri- 
mary object  of  Washington's  care  during  the  war." 

To  maintain  them,  he  had  incurred  all  the  hazards  of 
the  campaign,  in  the  previous  year,  through  the  Jerseys 
with  a  too  feeble  force.  To  maintain  them  without  im- 
perilling Philadelphia,  were  the  "  marchings  and  counter- 
marchings,"  *  of  which  he  complained,  of  the  present  year 
between  the  Hudson  and  the  Delaware.  In  the  appoint- 
ments to  their  command  he  had  been  most  sedulous. 
When  Heath  was  transferred  to  fill  the  place  left  vacant 
by  the  resignation  of  General  Ward,  McDougall,  in  whom 
New  York  had  confidence,  was  substituted  ;  and  when  he 
requested  to  be  relieved,  Arnold,  recently  elected  ma- 
jor-general, was  ordered  to  the  command.  And  when 
Arnold  sought  more  active  service,  Putnam  was  selected 
with  instructions  "  to  use  every  means  in  his  power  for 
expediting  and  effecting  the  works  mentioned  "  in  a  recent 
joint  report  of  Greene,  Knox,  McDougall,  Clinton  and 
Wayne. — "  The  pass  through  the  Highlands  on  the  west 
side  of  the  river  should  also  be  attended  to,  lest  the  ene- 
my by  a  coup-de-main  should  possess  themselves  of  it, 
before  a  sufficient  force  can  be  assembled  to  oppose 
them." 

The  selection  of  Putnam  was  doubtless  prompted  by 
his  supposed  influence  in  drawing  aid  from  Connecticut, 
and  by  his  supposed  value  as  "  an  executive  officer."  But 
of  his  fitness  in  a  "  separate  "  command,  Washington  was 
less  sure.  Hence  frequent  cautions  in  the  letters  ad- 
dressed to  him  by  Hamilton,  who  probably  formed  a  cor- 
rect estimate  of  him  at  White  Plains,  to  interpose  "  effect- 
ual impediments  to  the  avenues  of  approach  ; "  that  he 

*  Washington  to  Greene,  May  12,  1777 


JEr.  20.]  HAMILTON.  319 

"  must  undoubtedly  expect  a  visit  to  his  post,"  "  to  use 
every  method  of  gaining  intelligence ; "  indicating  the 
consequences  of  their  loss  as  "  almost  irremediable  ; "  that 
to  "  prevent  a  coup  de  main  was  of  an  importance  infinite 
to  America."  It  was  this  that  caused  Washington  to  re- 
joice in  Clinton's  taking  the  command  of  the  forts,  who 
was  urged  by  Hamilton  in  his  behalf  to  call  out  adequate 
reinforcements  to  the  garrison,  and  the  army  at  this  post.* 

Nor  had  Washington  any  grounds  of  doubt  that  his 
orders  had  been  obeyed,  and  that  they  were  safe.  As 
late  as  the  tenth  of  September,  five  and  twenty  days 
before  the  assault.  Clinton,  as  governor  of  New  York, 
stated  to  the  legislature,  "  I  have  also  made  a  further  draft 
for  the  protection  of  the  exposed  inhabitants  of  the 
County  of  Westchester,  and  for  the  defence  of  the  posts 
in  the  Highlands ;  which,  I  have  the  pleasure  of  assuring 
you,  are  in  so  respectable  a  state  of  defence,  as  to  promise 
us  security  against  any  attack  in  that  quarter."  f  Upon 
this  assurance  the  legislature  relied.J 

On  the  twenty-ninth  of  September,  Putnam  advised  § 
Clinton  of  intelligence  of  a  reinforcement  to  the  British 
in  New  York ;  that  "  the  whole  of  their  troops  "  were 
"  under  marching  orders,"  and  of  their  "  probable  designs 
against  the  posts  in  the  Highlands  or  some  part  of  the 
Counties  of  Westchester  and  Dutchess."  He  asked  for 
reinforcements,  and  invited  his  "  personal  attention,  coun- 
sel and  assistance,"  expressing  his  belief  that  a  "  contrary 
wind  "  only  prevented  "  an  immediate  visit."  The  total 

*  Corres.  of  Her.,  i.  420,  Aug.  9.     Clinton  to  Washington. 

f  Extract  from  original  speech  on  file  at  Albany,  Sept.  10. 

\  Address  of  Legislature :  "  We  feel  ourselves  happy  in  reflecting  on  the 
measures  which  have  been  taken  for  securing  the  important  posts  in  the  High- 
lands, and  we  should  do  you  injustice,  were  we  not  to  acknowledge  your  vigor- 
ous efforts  in  that  necessary  work." 

§  Corresp.  Rev ,  ii  536,  537,  538 


320  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

forces  at  the  post  are  stated  to  have  been  at  this  time, 
"  eleven  hundred  continentals,  and  four  hundred  militia  at 
Peekskill,"  a  small  guard  at  Fort  Independence,  and  a 
garrison  of  six  hundred  men,  militia,  except  a  company  of 
veteran  artillerists  under  Lamb.  Governor  Clinton  re- 
paired to  the  forts  On  the  western  bank,  and  took  com- 
mand, aided  by  his  brother,  who  was  at  "  Fort  Clinton." 
Nearly  five  days  having  elapsed,  on  the  fourth  of  Octo- 
ber, in  the  evening,  Putnam  again  wrote  Clinton,  inform- 
ing him  of  the  approach  of  the  enemy  in  their  vessels, 
and  excusing  himself  for  not  having  previously  advised 
him,  because  he  "  thought  this  movement  was  only  to 
drive  off  cattle."  Two  days  after,  he  again  wrote,  stating 
information,  that  the  enemy  had  landed  on  the  western 
side  of  the  river,  "  betwixt  King's  Ferry  and  Dunderberg, 
if  so,  that  they  meant  to  attack  Fort  Montgomery  by 
land  ;  which,  when  I  am  sure  of,  I  shall  immediately  re- 
inforce you." 

The  preceding  day,  (the  fifth  of  October,)  the  British 
force,  under  Sir  Henry  Clinton  and  General  Vaughan, 
landed  at  Verplanck's  Point,  a  few  miles  below  Peeks- 
kill,  on  the  same  side  of  the  river.  Putnam  imme- 
diately retreated  among  the  hills.  On  the  evening  of 
that  day,  a  part  of  the  enemy  re-embarked,  the  fleet 
moved  up  to  mask  King's  Ferry,  and  early  the  next  morn- 
ing two  thousand  one  hundred  troops  were  landed  at 
Stony  Point.  These  troops  moved  round  the  Dunderberg, 
or  thunder  mountain,  through  the  very  "  avenue  of  ap- 
proach "  previously  indicated  from  head-quarters  as  in 
danger  of  being  taken  by  a  "  COUP  DE  MAIN,"  and  clam- 
bered to  a  point  where  they  were  obliged  to  separate  in 
order  to  attack  the  forts.  This  point  they  seemed  to  have 
reached  before  Putnam  was  aware  of  their  having  landed. 
He  discovered,  as  he  slates,  a  large  fire  at  the  Ferry, 


^ET.  20.]  HAMILTON.  321 

which  he  imagined  to  be  the  store  houses,  upon  which  it 
was  thought  they  only  landed  with  a  view  of  destroying 
these  houses.* 

Without  giving  any  orders,  positive  or  contingent,  to 
reinforce  Clinton,  Putnam,  with  Parsons  and  his  adjutant- 
general,  proceeded  to  reconnoitre;  and  did  not  return  to 
their  quarters  until  the  western  forts  had  been  attacked. 
A  reinforcement  ordered  during  his  absence,f  marched 
too  late  to  afford  assistance,  and  did  not  cross  the  river. 
Upon  learning  the  approach  of  the  enemy,  after  sending 
to  Putnam  for  aid,  two  small  parties  were  advanced  to 
endeavor  to  check  the  separate  advancing  parties  of  the 
enemy.  Their  endeavors  were  ineffectual.  The  works 
were  reached.  A  summons  was  given  to  surrender,  which 
was  refused.  "About  five  in  the  afternoon,"  assaults  were 
made  on  both  forts,  and,  after  a  short  defence,  they  were 
both  taken  by  storm.  A  few  of  each  of  the  garrisons 
were  made  prisoners,  most  of  them  with  their  two  com- 
manders escaped — a  part,  among  whom  was  James  Clin- 
ton, to  the  woods  ;  others  by  boats  across  the  river,  ol 
whom  was  the  governor. 

Not  a  little  merit  was  claimed  for  this  defence.  Ham- 
ilton took  a  different  view  in  a  publication  a  few  years 
after  the  revolution.^  "  After  diligent  inquiry,"  he  wrote, 
"  I  have  not  been  able  to  learn  that  he  "  (Governor  Clin- 
ton) "  was  ever  more  than  once  in  actual  combat.  This 
was  at  Fort  Montgomery,  where  he  commanded  in  per- 
son ;  and  which,  after  a  feeble  and  unskilful  defence,  was 
carried  by  storm.  That  post,  strongly  fortified  by  nature, 
almost  inaccesible  in  itself,  and  sufficiently  manned,  was 
capable  of  being  rendered  a  much  more  difficult  morsel 
to  the  assailants  than  they  found  it  to  be.  This,  I  own, 

*  Putnam  to  Washington,  Oct.  8.     Corresp.  Rev.,  i.  438. 
f  Humphrey's  Life  of  Putnam.  \  Hamilton's  Works,  vi.  603. 

VOL.  I.— 21 


322  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

was  not  the  common  idea  at  the  time,  but  it  is  not  the  less 
true."  * 

Two  American  frigates  stationed  to  defend  the  chain, 
one  "  badly  manned,"  the  other  without  anchor  or  cables 
to  secure  her,  were  set  on  fire  to  prevent  their  falling  into 
the  hands  of  the  enemy.  "The  flames  suddenly  broke 
forth ;  and  as  every  sail  was  set,  the  vessels  soon  became 
magnificent  pyramids  of  fire.  The  reflection  on  the  steep 
face  of  the  opposite  mountain,  and  the  long  train  of  rud- 
dy light  that  shone  upon  the  water  for  a  prodigious  dis- 
tance, had  a  wonderful  effect ;  whilst  the  ear  was  awfully 
filled  with  the  continued  echoes  from  the  rocky  shores,  as 
the  flames  gradually  reached  the  cannon.  The  whole 
was  sublimely  terminated  by  the  explosions,  which  again 
left  all  to  darkness."  f 

*  Stedman  differs  as  to  the  strength  of  Montgomery,  but  agrees  as  to  the 
defence.  "  The  point  assailed  at  Fort  Montgomery  was  not  very  strong  from 
situation  or  works,  nor  did  the  enemy  wake  a  very  obstinate  resistance,  so  that  the 
fort  was  carried  by  our  troops  with  little  loss,  almost  all  the  garrison,  consist- 
ing of  eight  hundred  men,  made  their  escape.'' — i.  360.  Marshall  states,  i.  2.)9  : 
"  Both  forts  were  assaulted  about  fire  'n  the  afternoon.  The  works  were  de- 
fended with  resolution,  and  were  maintained  until  dark."  As  the  sun  sets  on 
the  sixth  of  October,  in  the  latitude  of  New  York,  at  36  minutes  past  5  o'clock, 
and  the  fight  ended  at  dark,  it  could  not  have  lasted  more  than  forty  minutes. 
Congress  agreed  to  the  report  of  a  court  of  inquiry,  "  that  those  forts  were 
lost,  not  from  any  fault,  misconduct,  or  negligence  of  the  commanding  officers, 
but  solely  through  the  want  of  an  adequate  force  under  their  command  to 
maintain  and  defend  them."  In  the  "Civil  War  in  America,"  by  a  British 
officer,  it  is  stated,  p.  327 :  "In  the  rear  of  Fort  Montgomery  the  defences 
were  but  weak,  and  at  this  time  assailable,  having  been  left  so  from  a  supposed 
impracticability  of  an  enemy  advancing  on  this  quarter.  The  rebels,  however, 
were  not  found  defenceless  on  this  side.  To  considerable  natural  obstructions 
they  had  added  others,  by  cutting  down  great  quantities  of  trees,  and  disposing 
them  in  such  a  manner  as  to  present  a  very  formidable  abatis."  "  Our  loss 
was  inconsiderable  ;  not  more  than  two  hundred  killed  and  wounded.  Seventy 
pieces  of  artillery  and  valuable  stores  captured.'' 

f  Stedman  i.  364. 


^T.  20.]  HAMILTON.  323 

Such  was  the  catastrophe  which  befell  the  Highland 
posts,  objects  of  so  much  care,  such  vast  expense,  such 
long  solicitude,  lost  in  a  conflict  of  about  forty  minutes ; 
if  gallantly  defended,  as  the  enemy  had  no  artillery,  im- 
pregnable. 

At  this  moment,  Gouverneur  Morris  writes  to  Schuy- 
ler  from  Kingston  :  "  By  the  want  of  men,  the  key  of  this 
State  is  in  possession  of  the  enemy.  *  *  *  Old  Put- 
nam is  an  old  woman,  and  therefore  much  cannot  be  ex- 
pected from  him." 

Putnam,  in  his  poor  exculpations  to  Washington,  as 
was  his  wont,  resorted  to  the  fabulous.  He  stated  that 
he  detached  a  reinforcement,  which  was  the  act  of  Colonel 
Wyllis,  in  his  absence  and  without  his  knowledge ;  and 
to  relieve  the  picture,  that  the  enemy  were  five  thousand 
in  number.  Nor  were  these  his  only  inaccuracies.  He 
had  the  effrontery  to  write  to  Washington,  in  disregard 
of  all  the  previous  urgent  monitions  addressed  to  him 
from  head-quarters,  "  I  have  repeatedly  informed  your 
excellency  of  the  enemy's  design  against  this  post ;  but 
from  some  motive  or  other,  you  always  differed  with  me 
in  opinion."  The  next  day  he  wrote  to  Gates,  throwing 
out  a  slur  upon  the  commander-in-chief,  and  exaggerating 
the  defence.  "  The  loss  of  Fort  Montgomery  has,  instead 
of  depressing  the  spirits  of  the  country,  animated  them. 
So  many  forts  and  strongholds  have  been  given  up  with- 
out fighting,  that  they  began  to  despair,  and  thought  our 
troops  would  not  face  the  enemy.  The  few  brave  men 
that  were  in  that  fort  defended  it  five  hours  against  (ft 
least  five  thousand  of  the  enemy."  * 

On  the  same  day  Sir  Henry  Clinton  sent  a  dispatch 

*  Governor  Clinton,  who  had  seen  Putnam,  states,  the  next  day,  "  by  the 
lowest  account,  three  thousand."  The  actual  force  stated  by  Sir  Henry  Clin- 
ton was  2,100. 


324  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1777 

enclosed  in  a  silver  ball  to  Burgoyne.  "Nousy  voici, 
and  nothing  between  us  but  gates.  I  sincerely  hope  this 
little  success  of  ours  may  facilitate  your  operations.  In 
answer  to  your  letter  of  the  28th  of  Sept.  by  C.  .C,  I 
shall  only  say,  that  I  cannot  presume  to  order,  or  even 
advise,  for  reasons  obvious.  I  heartily  wish  you  success." 
The  miserable  bearer  of  this  missive  was  seized,  the  bullet 
obtained,  he  sentenced  to  the  gallows. 

Putnam,  evacuating  Forts  Independence  and  Consti- 
tution, hastened  to  Fishkill  beyond  reach  of  the  enemy. 
Hence  he  wrote  again  to  Gates :  "  I  have  called  a  council 
this  night,  when  we  shall  determine  whether  to  proceed 
to  Albany  to  reinforce  your  army,  or  to  New  York,  and 
endeavor  to  possess  ourselves  of  that  post ;  the  latter,  I 
think,  will  take  place." 

Hamilton  at  this  time  was  writing  to  Congress  in  the 
name  of  Washington  :  *  "If  General  Putnam  can  but 
keep  pace  with  their  fleet  in  their  progress  up  the  river, 
I  hope  he  will  be  able  to  frustrate  their  designs  of  reliev- 
ing General  Burgoyne,  and  that  every  thing  will  still 
terminate  well  in  that  quarter."  Putnam  clung  to  his 
favorite  idea,  cogent  as  were  the  opposite  considerations. 
After  stating  his  conviction,  that  the  shipping  were  moving 
for  Albany,  he  remarked :  "  If  we  were  convinced  that 
General  Gates  was  able  to  oppose  them,  I  think  we  ought 
not  to  lose  a  moment,  but  march  immediately  down  to 
King's  Bridge."  He  then  changed  his  mind,  and  decided 
to  march  northward.  Premature  tidings  as  to  Burgoyne's 
defeat  determined  him  to  halt  after  marching  three  miles, 
and  again  he  talked  of  a  movement  towards  New  York, 
which  Clinton  pronounced  "  utterly  inefficacious,"  and  he 
temporarily  relinquished  the  idea.  Thus  a  force,  increased 
by  the  influx  of  Connecticut  militia  to  the  number  of  six 

*  Oct  13. 


JET.  20.]  HAMILTON.  325 

thousand  men,  remained  at  such  a  moment,  wholly  unem- 
ployed. 

These  occurrences  were  rendered  of  minor  import- 
ance by  the  rapidly  maturing  results  of  the  northern 
campaign.  Grown  confident  by  the  battle  at  Stillwater, 
the  Americans  were  harassing  the  enemy  night  and  day. 
"  I  do  not  believe,"  Burgoyne  states  in  the  account  of  his 
expedition,  "  either  officer  or  soldier  ever  slept  without 
his  clothes ;  or  that  any  general  officer  or  commander  of 
a  regiment  passed  a  single  night  without  being  upon  his 
legs  occasionally  at  different  hours,  and  constantly  up  be- 
fore daylight." 

Gates  saw  the  advantage  of  time,  and  was  unwilling 
to  move  out  of  his  intrenchments.  The  Americans  be- 
came impatient.  "  I  think  it  my  duty,"  Arnold  wrote  him, 
moved  by  the  common  impulse,  "  (which  nothing  shall 
deter  me  from  doing)  to  acquaint  you  the  army  are  clam- 
orous for  action.  The  militia  (who  compose  a  great  part 
of  the  army)  are  already  threatening  to  go  home.  One 
fortnight's  inaction  will,  I  make  no  doubt,  lessen  your 
army  by  sickness  and  desertion  at  least  four  thousand 
men,  in  which  time  the  enemy  may  be  reinforced,  and 
make  good  their  retreat.  I  have  reason  to  think,  from 
intelligence  since  received,  that,  had  we  improved  the 
twentieth  of  September,  it  might  have  ruined  the  enemy. 
That  is  past ;  let  me  entreat  you  to  improve  the  present 
time."  Instead  of  seeking  battle,  Gates  wrote,  "  I  will 
endeavor  to  be  ready  to  prevent  his  (Burgoyne's  )  good 
fortune,  and,  if  possible,  secure  my  own." 

Of  too  gallant  mettle  to  yield  to  adverse  fortune  with- 
out a  struggle,  Burgoyne,  receiving  no  tidings  from  Sir 
Henry  Clinton,  his  stores  rapidly  diminishing,  resolved  to 
risk  the  hazards  of  another  engagement.  His  situation  was 
becoming  desperate,  and  a  desperate  effort  must  be  made. 


326  THE   KEPUBLIC.  [1777. 

Having  confided  the  guard  of  his  camp  upon  the 
heights  to  Generals  Hamilton  and  Specht,  the  redoubts 
and  the  plain  to  Gall,  he  selected  fifteen  hundred  choice 
troops,  with  eight  field-pieces,  under  Philips,  Riedesel  and 
Fraser,  led  by  himself  to  attack  the  American  left,  the 
weakest  point,  hoping  possibly  to  force  a  passage  to  Alba- 
ny. As  a  diversion,  a  party  of  skirmishers  and  Indians 
were  ordered  to  make  a  circuit  through  the  woods,  gain 
the  rear  of  the  Americans,  and  assail  them  at  the  moment 
of  his  advance  in  front.  This  purpose  was  discovered. 
Morgan  with  his  rifles  passing  through  the  woods,  took  a 
commanding  position,  unobserved.  The  troops  under 
Poor  and  Learned  defiled  to  the  left,  reinforced  by  militia, 
as  the  action  became  serious,  and  by  detachments  from 
the  right.  Burgoyne  now  formed,  his  artillery  and  gren- 
adiers on  his  left,  his  light  infantry  on  his  right,  with  Fra- 
ser, at  the  head  of  a  detachment  intended  to  flank  the 
Americans,  while  the  centre  consisted  of  British  and  Hes- 
sians under  Philips  and  Riedesel. 

Morgan,  supported  by  Dearborn's  infantry,  began  the 
fight,  pouring  in  a  deadly  fire  on  the  advanced  front  and 
flank  of  the  left  wing.  General  Poor  at  this  moment 
moved  steadily  upon  the  British  artillery  and  grenadiers, 
bore  them  down,  and,  after  frequent  rencontres,  took  their 
pieces,  and  turned  them  upon  them.  Major  Ackland 
wounded,  and  Williams,  the  commander  of  the  artillery, 
were  both  captured.  The  impetuous  charges  upon  the 
enemy's  centre  were  directed  by  Arnold,  who,  without 
orders,*  had  thrown  himself  into  the  midst  of  the  fire, 

*  Burgoyne'e  Expedition,  26:  "  Gates,  as  I  have  been  informed,  had  deter- 
mined to  receive  the  attack  in  his  lines.  Arnold,  who  commanded  on  the 
left,  foreseeing  the  danger  of  being  turned,  advanced  without  consultation  of 
his  general,  and  gave,  instead  of  receiving  battle.  The  stroke  might  have 
been  fatal  on  his  part,  had  he  failed ;  but  confident  I  am,  upon  minute  exam- 


^ET.  20.]  HAMILTON.  3^7 

loudly  welcomed  by  the  soldiers,  and  gave  an  infuriated 
character  to  the  onset.  The  Hessians,  who  broke  again 
and  again,  could  not  comprehend  the  fearless  disregard  of 
life  in  their  enemy.  Morgan's  rifles  were  all  on  the  alert, 
cutting  a  chasm  through  their  opponents,  and  rendering 
relief  to  the  centre  impossible.  Fraser  on  his  gray  char- 
ger, a  conspicuous  mark,  was  a  victim  to  their  fire.  His 
infantry  fell  back,  while  Ten  Broeck's  men  of  Albany 
came  up,  and  made  resistance  hopeless.  Seeing  the  day 
lost,  to  cover  the  return  of  his  troops  to  camp,  which  a 
movement  of  the  Americans  threatened  to  intercept,  Bur- 
goyne  formed  a  second  line,  leaving  his  horse  and  artillery 
behind  it.  Arnold  renewed  the  attack  upon  the  left, 
stormed  the  enemy's  camp,  "  rushing  to  their  lines  under 
a  severe  fire  of  grape  and  small  arms.  The  post  of  the 
light  infantry  under  Lord  Balcarras,  assisted  by  some  of 
the  line,  which  threw  themselves,  by  order,  into  the  in- 
trenchments,  was  defended  with  great  spirit."  *  Unable 
to  penetrate  at  this  point,  Arnold  dashed  upon  the  right 
flank,  pushed  on  to  the  intrenchments  of  the  German  re- 
serve under  Breyman  situate  en  potence,  a  little  on  the 
rear  of  the  line.  Reaching  these  works,  under  a  severe 
fire  of  grape  and  small  arms,  he  was  among  the  first  to 
enter,  leaping  through  a  sally  post,  his  brown  horse  killed, 
himself  wounded.  The  Germans  retreated,  firing  succes- 
sive volleys  until  they  had  gained  their  tents  behind  the  in- 
trenchments ;  when,  supposing  the  assault  general,  they 
gave  one  last  discharge.  Some  retreated  to  the  further 
camp,  others  surrendered.  In  this  assault,  Lieutenant- 
colonel  Brooks  of  Massa^hus^Us  wss  much  distinguished. 

inaf  ion  of  the  ground  since,  that  had  the  other  >.dei  bren  pursued,  I  should  in  a 
few  hours  have  gained  a  position  that,  in  spite  of  the  enemy's  numbers,  would  have 
put  them  in  my  power.'' 

*  Burgoyi  e'.s  Campaign. 


328  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

Breyman  was  killed,  the  outworks  carried.  An  attempt 
to  recover  them  failed.  Brooks  held  them,  and  thus  an 
opening  upon  the  right  and  rear  of  the  enemy  was 
gained. 

Near  the  close  of  the  day,  Gates  awakened  to  a  sense 
of  the  advantage  obtained,  and  ordered  Lincoln  to  move 
with  the  right  wing  and  attack  the  enemy's  left,  but  the 
darkness  prevented  him.  This  action,  begun  three  hours 
after  noon,  ended  only  with  the  light.  The  Americans 
lay  upon  their  arms  near  the  enemy's  lines,  eager  to  renew 
the  fight  at  break  of  day.  At  this  time,  orders  again 
reached  Lincoln  to  attempt  the  enemy's  lines,  each  brig- 
ade forming  a  column,  and  marching  from  its  own  en- 
campment. There  was  a  simultaneous  movement  on  the 
left.  The  enemy,  on  the  approach  of  the  advanced  corps, 
after  exchanging  a  few  shots,  abandoned  their  lines,  and 
took  post  on  the  heights  in  their  rear.  Lincoln  received 
a  wound.*  A  judicious  order  was  now  given,  to  march  a 
strong  column  to  turn  their  right,  which,  if  effected, 
would  have  enclosed  them.  At  the  same  time,  a  detach- 
ment crossed  the  Hudson  to  prevent  its  passage,  while 
other  bodies  were  pushed  up  the  river. 

This  decisive  victory  and  his  severe  loss,  left  Burgoyne 
no  choice  but  to  retreat.  Having  interred  General  Fraser 
in  the  dusk  of  evening,  and  taken  the  usual  precautions 
to  conceal  his  retreat,  Burgoyne  began  to  move  at  nine  of 
night,  abandoning  his  hospital,  baggage,  and  part  of  his 
supplies.  Through  torrents  of  rain  he  travelled  his 
dreary  way,  Riedesel  in  the  van,  Philips  in  the  rear, 
reaching  the  succeeding  night  his  former  ground  at  Sara- 
toga. A  party  of  Americans  engaged  in  throwing  up  in 

*  Gates,  in  his  short  report  of  the  12th  of  October,  speaks  of  Arnold's  gal- 
.antry  and  wound,  and  in  commendatory  terms  of  Lincoln,  Morgan,  and  Dear- 
born. 


Mf.  20.]  HAMILTON.  329 

trenchments  near  the  line  of  the  Fish  Creek,  abandoned 
them  on  his  approach,  and  joined  another  party  intrenched 
on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Hudson  to  command  its  passage. 
Early  the  next  day,  Burgoyne  occupied  his  former  posi- 
tion. With  a  faint  hope  of  securing  a  retreat,  he  imme- 
diately sent  forward  artificers  under  an  escort  to  repair 
the  road  to  Fort  Edward,  when  the  American  army  were 
seen  on  the  southern  heights  of  Fish  Creek,  preparing  to 
cross  it  and  give  battle.  Fearing  an  attack  upon  his 
camp,  he  recalled  the  escort.  To  pass  the  Hudson  at 
once  by  a  ford  commanded  by  a  large  body  of  his  enemy, 
and  then  attempt  to  escape  to  Fort  George  pursued  by  a 
superior  force  ;  or  with  only  their  arms  and  ammunition, 
and  such  provision  as  each  man  could  carry,  to  march  up 
the  western  bank  of  the  river  by  night,  crossing  at  Fort 
Edward  or  at  an  upper  ford,  and  thus  reach  Fort  George, 
were  the  alternatives.  The  former  would  have  been  an 
act  of  temerity,  the  latter  was  proposed  by  Riedesel  at 
an  interview  with  Burgoyne  and  Philips  on  the  eleventh 
of  October.  No  decision  was  made.  Another  counci1 
was  held,  at  which  Generals  Hamilton  and  Gall  were  also 
present.  Riedesel  again  urged  this  movement,  with  whom 
the  other  officers  concurred.*  An  order  was  given  to 
distribute  the  provisions,  and  to  march  at  ten  at  night. 
At  the  moment  of  moving,  a  countermanding  order  came. 
Burgoyne  wisely  relinquished  his  purpose.  The  Ameri- 
cans had  stationed  a  guard  at  every  ford,  an  intrenched 
work  had  been  thrown  up  on  the  elevated  ground  this 
side  of  Fort  George,  and  detachments  were  posted  to  at- 
tack the  enemy  at  whatever  point  they  should  advance. 

It  only  remained  to  fortify  his  camp  upon  the  high 
ground  north  of  Fish  Creek,  and  there  wait  the  succor, 
his  last  hope,  from  below.  Nor  could  he  hope  long  to 

*  Life  of  Riedesel,  ii.  174. 


330  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

maintain  this  position.  Batteries  were  opened  upon  him 
from  the  adverse  banks  of  the  Hudson  and  of  the  Fish 
Creek,  while,  on  his  rear,  Morgan's  rifles  were  keeping 
up  a  frequent  fire.  "  Roaring  of  cannon  and  whistling  ot 
bullets  were  heard  constantly  by  day  and  night.  The 
men  lay  continually  upon  their  arms,  and  were  cannon- 
aded in  every  part,  even  rifle  shot  and  grape  shot  came 
into  all  parts  of  the  line."  * 

Amid  his  suffering  and  despairing  army,  Burgoyne 
again  called  a  council  of  war,  submitted  his  views,  and 
proposed  as  a  last  resort,  in  case  the  enemy,  by  extending 
their  left,  should  leave  their  rear  open,  to  march  rapidly 
to  Albany.  This  council  was  held  on  the  twelfth.  Scouts 
having  reported  the  impracticability  of  either  expedient, 
the  next  day  a  fuller  council  was  held,  in  order  that  if  a 
capitulation  were  agreed  upon,  it  should  be  "  the  act  of 
the  army  as  well  as  of  the  general."  f  The  council  re- 
solved with  one  voice,  that,  "  their  present  situation  justi- 
fied a  capitulation  upon  honorable  terms." 

A  negotiation  was  at  once  opened.  Gates  required  an 
unconditional  surrender  as  prisoners  of  war.  This  was 
rejected.  He  then  proposed  they  should  ground  their 
arms  in  their  encampments  and  be  marched  towards  Ben- 
nington.  He  was  answered  that  "  sooner  than  consent  to 
this,  they  will  rush  on  the  enemy  determined  to  take  no 
quarter."  Gates  receded,  and  it  was  finally  agreed,  that 
the  British  troops  "march  out  of  their  camp  with  their 
artillery,  and  the  honors  of  war  to  the  verge  of  the  river," 
where  their  arms,  piled  by  command  of  their  own  officers, 
and  their  artillery  were  to  be  left ;  a  free  passage  to  Great 
Britain,  to  be  granted  on  condition  of  not  serving  in  North 
America.  On  the  seventeenth  of  October,  the  capitula- 
tion was  signed,  and  with  much  delicacy  Gates  held  his 

*  Burgoyne's  Expedition.     Appendix,  08.  •)•  Ibid,  p.  101. 


HAMILTON.  331 

troops  within  his  lines,  Wilkinson,  the  adjutant-general, 
being  the  only  American  in  view  at  the  moment  of  sur- 
render. The  British  troops  made  prisoners  were  in  num- 
ber five  thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty  men,  with  a 
train  of  artillery,  many  thousand  stand  of  arms,  clothing 
and  military  stores.  The  Americans  were,  exclusive  of 
sick  and  absent,  nearly  double  in  number — ten  thousand 
five  hundred  and  fifty  men. 

Their  arms  surrendered,  the  captured  army  were 
formed  in  line.  The  light  infantry  in  front,  escorted  by  a 
company  of  American  dragoons,  preceded  by  two  mount- 
ed officers,  bearing  the  American  flag.  They  passed 
through  the  long  line  of  the  victors  until  they  reached  the 
marquee  of  Gates.  He  came  out  accompanied  by  Bur- 
goyne — a  large,  robust  soldier — his  countenance  rough 
and  hard,  his  figure  handsome,  his  air  noble.  Here,  in 
the  presence  of  the  two  armies,  he  delivered  his  sword  to 
Gates,  of  smaller  stature  and  not  imposing  mien,  who  re- 
ceived it  courteously. 

"  While  they  marched  down  their  front,"  wrote  a  for- 
eign officer,  "not  a  single  man  exhibited  any  rancor, 
hatred,  or  sign  of  scorn  ;  or  uttered  a  word  of  exultation, 
or  malicious  passion.  They  behaved  as  if  paraded  to 
give  us  a  mark  of  honor.  When  passing  before  the  tent 
of  General  Gates,  he  obligingly  invited  the  British  gen- 
erals and  commanders  of  regiments  to  enter.  Refresh- 
ments of  all  kinds  were  placed  before  them.  Gates  is  a 
man  between  fifty  and  sixty  years  of  age,  wears  his  own 
hair,  gray  and  thin,  and  cut  round  his  head.  He  also 
wears  spectacles,  being  short-sighted." 

The  military  air  of  the  Americans  filled  this  foreigner 
with  surprise.  "  In  regard  of  stature  and  beauty  of  the 
male  population,  British  America  excels  nearly  all  the 
European  countries.  The  whole  people  have  natural 


332  THE   REPUBLIC.  [IVYT. 

talents  for  warfare,  and  would  make  excellent  soldiers."  * 
Their  courage,  endurance,  and  talent  for  war  were  their 
chief  boast,  for  nothing  could  be  more  incomplete  and 
incongruous  than  their  equipments.  The  men  chiefly  in 
their  working  apparel,  with  which  they  had  left  their  fields, 
the  officers  in  clothes  of  various  colors,  ill-chosen,  ill- 
made,  some  with  wigs,  some  without,  an  aggregate  of 
plain,  colonial,  unprovided,  fighting  yeomen.f 

Nor  did  the  Hessians  furnish  a  less  curious  spectacle. 
"  A  towering  brass  fronted  cap ;  moustaches  colored  with 
the  same  material  that  colored  his  shoes,  his  hair  plastered 
with  tallow  and  flour,  and  tightly  drawn  into  a  long  ap- 
pendage reaching  from  the  back  of  his  head  to  his  waist ; 
his  blue  uniform  almost  covered  by  the  broad  belts  sus- 
taining his  cartouch  box,  his  brass-hilted  sword  and  his 
bayonet  ;  a  yellow  waistcoat  with  flaps,  and  yellow 
breeches  were  met  at  the  knees  with  black  gaiters ;  thus 
heavily  equipped,  he  moved,  an  automaton,  and  received 
the  command  or  cane  of  his  officer."  ;£ 

The  dismounted  dragoons,  with  their  massive  caps 
and  heavy  accoutrements  and  foot-long  spurs,  tramping 
through  the  mire — their  persons  unclean,  with  unclean 
animals  in  their  train  § — a  black,  grisly  bear  growling  at 
his  tangled  chain,  foxes  cunningly  peering  from  the  bag- 
gage wagons,  a  young  raccoon  under  the  arm  of  a  sharp- 
shooter, or  a  tamed  deer  tripping  along — their  only  tro- 

U  fc[  iviti.x)       .ii::\>iil  rriiii--a'   bo.'JJliu    :i'J'»W    '<[.\IMA    Uti  '!;>  (-"fiTfHII 
*  Letter  dated  Nov.  15,  1777.     Cambridge,  in  Schloesser's  Annalise,  No. 

60,  and  Staats  Anzieger,  No.  72.     Gottingen. 

f  "  Browii  coats,  with  green  faciugs  and  cuffs,  white  lining,  and  silver  laces  ; 
plenty  of  gray,  with  buff  facings  and  cuffs.  The  brigadiers  and  generals  arc 
wearing  particularly  uniforms  and  ribbons,  lying  over  the  waistcoats,  in  the 
fashion  in  which  ribbons  with  orders  are  used.  The  colonels  and  other  com- 
missioned officers  are  mainly  in  their  every-day  clothes.  They  carried  flags 
with  emblems  and  mottoes,  many  of  which  are  very  little  flattering  to  as." 
+  Dunlnp,  45.  g  Campaign,  221. 


^T.  20.]  II  A  M 1 1,  T  0  N .  333 

phies.  Oddly-dressed,  gypsy-featured  women  followed  in 
the  train,  unable  to  restrain  their  curses,  cries,  and  jargon 
of  amazement,  curses  yet  often  returned  by  the  American 
farmer,  as  he  surveys  the  fruit  of  his  long  toil  wasted  by 
an  attendant  of  their  advent — the  "  Hessian  fly." 

Numbers  of  lithe  muscular  Indians  with  a  few  squalid 
squaws,  under  strong  guard  to  protect  them  from  the  ex- 
asperated militia,  were  seen,  doubtless  expecting  with 
gloomy  firmness  the  fagot  and  the  torture  they  would 
have  themselves  employed. 

Nor  was  there  wanting  in  this  captured  army  aught  to 
deepen  the  dark  side  of  war.  Women  of  refined  taste 
and  culture,  delicate  in  all  the  delicacies  of  their  sex, 
mothers  with  young  children  who  had  followed  their  hus- 
bands to  the  field.  Among  these  were  Lady  Harriet 
Ackland,  who  had  passed  in  an  open  boat  amid  a  pelting 
storm  into  the  hostile  camp,  to  attend  her  wounded  hus- 
band ;  and  the  Baroness  Riedesel,  who,  amid  the  dead, 
the  dying  and  the  maimed,  immured  in  a  cellar  pene- 
trated by  shot,  lived  to  receive  and  to  record  the  hospi- 
tality of  Schuyler.  Taking  her  children  in  his  arms  as 
she  alighted  from  her  calash,  he  led  her  to  the  marquee  of 
Gates,  where  the  general  officers  were  to  dine.  Observ- 
ing, that  she  might  feel  embarrassed  as  the  only  lady  in  so 
large  a  circle,  he  invited  her  to  his  tent  to  partake  of  his 
frugal  meal,  and  then  requested  her  to  repair  to  his  resi- 
dence at  Albany  as  her  temporary  abode.  Her  husband 
approving,  she  proceeded  there,  and  "  was  loaded  with 
kindness."  * 

Schuyler  was  also  among  the  first  to  approach  Bur- 
goyne,  to  whom  he  gave  a  similar  invitation.  "  You  show 
me  great  kindness,"  said  Burgoyne,  "  though  I  have  done 
you  much  injury."  "That  was  the  fate  of  war,"  Schuy- 

*  Lady  Riedesel's  Memoir. 


334  THE    REPUBLIC. 

ler  answered,  "  let  us  say  no  more  about  it."  *  "  He  did 
more,"  Burgoyne  stated  in  the  House  of  Commons,  "  he 
sent  an  aide-de-camp  to  conduct  me  to  Albany,  in  order, 
as  he  expressed  it,  to  procure  better  quarters  than  a 
stranger  might  be  able  to  find.  That  gentleman  con- 
ducted me  to  a  very  elegant  house,  and,  to  my  great  sur- 
prise, presented  me  to  Mrs.  Schuyler  and  her  family.  In 
that  house  I  remained  during  my  whole  stay  in  Albany, 
with  a  table  of  more  than  twenty  covers  for  me  and  my 
friends,  and  every  other  demonstration  of  hospitality." 

In  the  hope  of  relieving  Burgoyne  by  a  diversion,  the 
day  before  the  capitulation  was  signed,  General  Vaughan, 
in  command  of  a  detachment,  finding  no  obstacles  from 
the  water  guard  near  the  Highland  fortresses,  sailed  up 
the  Hudson.  Having  burned  the  Continental  village,  at 
which  large  stores  were  collected,  he  proceeded  towards 
Kingston,  the  seat  of  the  New  York  government,  where 
some  works  had  been  raised  for  its  protection,  whither 
Governor  Clinton  was  also  moving,  by  way  of  the  Walkill, 
with  a  small  body  of  continentals,  some  militia,  and  seven 
field-pieces.  Vaughan  landed  without  serious  interrup- 
tion, and  destroyed  the  town.  The  seventeenth  of  Octo- 
ber Clinton  writes  to  Gates  :  "  Yesterday  afternoon  about 
four  o'clock,  the  enemy  took  possession  and  burned  the 
town  of  Kingston.  For  want  of  a  proper  number  of 
troops  no  effectual  resistance  could  be  made."  Again  he 
wrote  him,  stating  that  he  had  represented  to  Putnam  in 
strong  terms  the  situation  of  that  part  of  the  country, 
thinly  inhabited,  the  interior  unsettled,  and  separated  from 
assistance  by  a  chain  of  mountains.  "  In  consequence  of 
which  representation  he  agreed  to  let  me  have  three 

*  To  prevent  their  being  occupied  by  the  Americans,  and  thus  check  his 
proposed  crossing  the  Hudson,  Burgoyne  had  burned  Schuyler's  summer  resi- 
dence, mills,  and  properties  of  considerable  value. 


^T.  20.]  HAMILTON.  335 

thousand  men  of  the  eastern  militia,  should  they  come  in 
as  he  expected  they  would,  of  which  number,  however, 
he  hath  not  sent  four  hundred.  Kingston  has  been  de- 
stroyed merely  because  I  have  been  so  deceived  in  my  ex- 
pectations of  assistance  that  it  was  impossible  to  take 
measures  for  its  security."  "  Governor  Clinton,"  it  is 
stated,*  "  was  two  hours  too  late.  He  beheld  the  flames 
from  a  distance,  and  having  brought  with  him  the  spy,  the 
bearer  of  the  silver  bullet,  he  hanged  him  in  an  apple 
tree  in  sight  of  the  burning  village." 

Hamilton,  several  years  after,  published  a  comment  on 
this  affair.  "  Those  wrho  are  best  acquainted  with  the  par- 
ticulars of  the  burning  of  Esopus,  assert  that  his  excel- 
lency was  culpably  deficient  in  exertion  on  that  occasion. 
The  fact  seems  to  have  been,  that  a  large  body  of  men 
remained  unemployed  in  the  vicinity,  under  his  direction, 
while  the  descent  of  the  enemy  was  made  with  little  or 
no  opposition  ;  and  there  is  room  to  suppose,  that,  if  a  bet- 
ter countenance  had  been  kept  up,  the  evil  might  have 
been  prevented."  f 

Kingston  burned,  and  the  river  dwellings  of  gentry 
conspicuous  in  the  revolution  wasted,  Vaughan,  meeting 
intelligence  of  the  capture  of  Burgoyne,  returned  unmo- 
lested down  the  Hudson,  Fort  Montgomery  having  been 
demolished. 

Putnam,  with  the  large  force  under  his  command 
swollen  by  detachments  from  Gates,  seemed  to  feel  that 
something  must  be  attempted  by  him  to  compensate  for 
the  past.  On  the  last  day  of  October  he  convened  a 
council  of  his  officers.  By  this  council  it  was  unanimously 
decided,  that  four  thousand  men  should  move  down  on  the 
west  side  of  the  Hudson  and  take  post  at  Haverstraw, 
a  few  miles  below  King's  Ferry ;  and  that  leaving  a 

*  Irving's  Washington,  iii.  251.  f  Hamilton's  Works,  vi.  603. 


336  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

thousand  in  the  Highlands,  the  remainder  should  proceed 
without  delay  to  King's  Bridge  with  a  view  to  an  attempt 
upon  New  York.  Gates  dissuaded  it  as  an  empty  scheme. 
The  barbarous  destruction  of  private  property  in  this 
expedition  of  General  Vaughan  kindled  the  indignation, 
not  merely  of  America,  but  of  the  people  of  England. 
The  only  act  of  like  nature  by  way  of  retaliation,  com- 
mitted by  an  officer  of  the  continental  army,  was  the  act 
of  Putnam.  He,  soon  after,  caused  the  private  dwelling 
of  General  Delancey,  specially  offensive  as  a  partisan 
leader,  to  be  burned  to  the  ground.* 

*  Humphrey's  Life  of  Putnam,  1K1. 


See  NOTE,  Phil'p  Scliuy!er,  p.  573 


lulfi     j  TT 

n  * 


CHAPTER    XII. 

WHILE  Howe  had  drawn  his  army  within  his  lines  near 
Philadelphia,  Washington,  daily  weakened  by  the  depart- 
ure of  the  militia,  was  looking  intently  for  tidings  from 
Saratoga.  Rumors  came  of  successes,  but  until  the 
twenty-fifth  of  October,  no  authentic  intelligence  was  re- 
ceived of  the  capitulation  of  Burgoyne,  and  this  came 
through  an  indirect  channel.  Not  a  line  was  received  by 
him  from  Gates. 

Eager  to  meet  the  enemy  with  an  equal  force  of  reg- 
ulars which  he  never  before  had,  Washington  called  a 
council  of  war.  They  met  on  the  twenty-ninth  of  Oc- 
tober, five  major-generals  and  ten  brigadiers.  Hamilton 
was  present,  and  drew  up  the  minute  of  their  proceed- 
ings. The  enemy's  force  was  stated  to  be  ten  thousand 
men,  rank  and  file,  fit  for  duty.  The  American,  exclusive 
of  the  garrisons  on  the  river  forts,  three  hundred  conti- 
nentals at  Mifflin,  and  three  hundred  and  fifty  at  Red 
Bank,  and  five  hundred  militia  towards  Chester,  amounted 
to  eleven  thousand,  of  whom  two  thousand  seven  hun- 
dred were  militia,  soon  to  be  reduced  to  eight  hundred 
by  the  expiration  of  their  term  of  service.  The  calls 
upon  Pennsylvania  and  New  Jersey  for  aid  were  men- 
tioned, and  the  results  under  Gates,  Putnam  and  Clinton, 
VOL.  I.— 22 


338  THE  REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

stated.  Questions  were  then  propounded  as  to  the  eligi- 
bility of  attacking  the  enemy  ;  if  not  eligible,  what  ground 
they  should  take  until  forced  by  the  season  from  the  field. 
Where  then  should  be  the  cantonment  ?  How  the  enemy 
was  to  be  prevented  drawing  supplies  for  the  winter ; 
and  whether  any  and  what  succors  could,  with  propriety, 
be  drawn  from  the  northern  army.  Other  questions  of 
army  regulations  and  economy  were  submitted.  The 
conclusion  was,  that  the  enemy  ought  not  to  be  then  at- 
tacked ;  a  present  position  for  the  army  was  indicated ; 
the  river  garrisons  to  be  reinforced  ;  and  succors  to  be 
drawn  from  the  northern  army,  to  consist  of  twenty  regi- 
ments, fifteen  of  Massachusetts,  three  of  New  Hampshire, 
and  Lee's  and  Jackson's.  Morgan  was  on  his  way.  A 
mission  of  one  of  Washington's  aides  to  Gates  was  also 
advised. 

Congress  were  formally  apprised  of  this  opinion,  with 
the  reasons  for  it,  in  a  letter  by  Hamilton  in  the  name  of 
the  commander-in-chief,  and  were  informed  that  he  had 
sent  Colonel  Hamilton  to  General  Gates,  "  to  give  him  a 
just  representation  of  things,  and  to  explain  to  him  the  ex- 
pediency of  our  receiving  the  reinforcements  which  have 
been  determined  necessary,  if  they  will  not  interfere  with 
and  frustrate  any  important  plans  he  may  have  formed. 
Indeed,  I  cannot  conceive  that  there  is  any  other  object 
now  remaining  that  demands  our  attention  and  most  vig- 
orous efforts  so  much  as  the  destruction  of  the  enemy  in 
this  quarter.  Should  we  be  able  to  effect  this,  we  shall 
have  little  to  fear  in  future."  A  letter  was  immediately 
addressed  to  Gates  by  Washington,  also  from  the  pen  of 
Hamilton,  in  which,  after  congratulating  him  upon  his 
success,  as  "  an  event  that  does  the  highest  honor  to  the 
American  arms,"  and  expressing  his  "  regret  that  a  matter 
of  such  magnitude  should  have  reached  him  by  report 


^E-r.  20.]  HAMILTON.  339 

only,  or  through  the  channel  of  letters  not  beaiing  that  au- 
thenticity, which  the  importance  of  it  required,  and  which 
it  would  have  received  by  a  line  under  your  signature, 
stating  the  simple  fact,"  he  observed  :  "  Our  affairs  having 
happily  terminated  at  the  northward,  I  have,  by  the  advice 
of  my  general  officers,  sent  Colonel  Hamilton,  one  of  my 
aides,  to  lay  before  you  a  full  state  of  our  situation,  and  that 
of  the  enemy  in  this  quarter.  He  is  well  informed  upon 
the  subject,  and  will  deliver  my  sentiments  upon  the  plan  of 
operations  that  is  become  necessary  to  be  pursued.  I  think 
it  improper  to  enter  into  a  particular  detail,  not  being 
well  advised  how  matters  are  circumstanced  on  the  North 
River,  and  fearing  that  by  some  accident  my  letter  might 
miscarry.  From  Colonel  Hamilton  you  will  have  a  clear 
and  comprehensive  view  of  things,  and  I  persuade  myself 
you  will  do  all  in  your  power  to  facilitate  the  objects  I 
have  in  contemplation." 

Hamilton  departed  under  instructions  drawn  by  him- 
self. "  It  having  been  judged  expedient  by  the  members 
of  a  council  of  war  held  yesterday,  that  one  of  the  gen- 
tlemen of  my  family  should  be  sent  to  General  Gates,  in 
order  to  lay  before  him  the  state  of  the  army  and  the  sit- 
uation of  the  enemy,  and  to  point  out  to  him  the  many 
happy  consequences  that  will  accrue  from  an  immediate 
reinforcement  being  sent  from  the  northern  army,  I  have 
thought  it  propei  to  appoint  you  to  that  duty,  and  desire 
that  you  will  immediately  set  out  for  Albany,  at  which 
place,  or  in  the  neighborhood,  I  imagine  you  will  find 
General  Gates. 

"  You  are  so  fully  acquainted  with  the  principal  points 
on  which  you  are  sent,  namely,  the  state  of  our  army  and 
the  situation  of  the  enemy,  that  I  shall  not  enlarge  on 
those  heads.  What  you  are  chiefly  to  attend  to,  is  to 
point  out,  in  the  clearest  and  fullest  manner,  to  General 


340  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

Gates,  the  absolute  necessity  that  there  is  for  his  detach- 
ing a  very  considerable  part  of  the  army  at  present  under 
his  command  to  the  reinforcemeat  of  this  ;  a  measure  that 
will  in  all  probability  reduce  General  Howe  to  the  same 
situation  in  which  General  Burgoyne  now  is,  should  he 
attempt  to  remain  in  Philadelphia  without  being  able  to 
remove  the  obstructions  in  the  Delaware,  and  open  a  free 
communication  with  his  shipping.  The  force  which  the 
members  of  the  council  of  war  judge  it  safe  and  expe- 
dient to  draw  down  at  present,  are,  the  three  New  Hamp- 
shire and  fifteen  Massachusetts  regiments,  with  Lee's  and 
Jackson's,  two  of  the  sixteen,  additional.  But  it  is  more 
than  probable  that  General  Gates  may  have  detained  part 
of  those  troops  to  the  reduction  of  Ticonderoga,  should  the 
enemy  not  have  evacuated  it,  or  to  the  garrisoning  of  it. 
If  they  should,  in  that  case  the  reinforcement  will  be  ac- 
cording to  circumstances  ;  but,  if  possible,  let  it  be  made 
up  to  the  same  number  out  of  other  corps.  If,  upon  your 
meeting  with  General  Gates,  you  should  find  that  he  in- 
tends, in  consequence  of  his  success,  to  employ  the  troops 
under  his  command  upon  some  expedition,  by  the  prose- 
cution of  which  the  common  cause  will  be  more  benefited 
than  by  their  being  sent  down  to  reinforce  this  army,  it  is 
not  my  wish  to  give  any  interruption  to  the  plan.  But  if 
he  should  have  nothing  more  in  contemplation  than  those 
particular  objects  which  I  have  mentioned  to  you,  and 
which  it  is  unnecessary  to  commit  to  paper,  in  that  case 
you  are  to  inform  him  that  it  is  my  desire  that  the  rein- 
forcements before  mentioned,  or  such  part  of  them  as  can 
be  safely  spared,  be  immediately  put  in  motion  to  join  the 
army. 

"  I  have  understood  that  General  Gates  has  already  de- 
tached Nixon's  and  Glover's  brigades  to  join  General  Put- 
nam :  and  General  Dickinson  informs  me,  Sir  Henry  Clin- 


JSr.  20.]  HAMILTON.  341 

ton  has  come  down  the  river  with  his  whole  force  ;  if  this 
be  a  fact,  you  are  to  desire  General  Putnam  to  send  the 
two  brigades  forward  with  the  greatest  expedition,  as 
there  can  be  no  occasion  for  them  there. 

"  I  expect  you  will  meet  Colonel  Morgan's  corps  upon 
their  way  down  ;  if  you  do,  let  them  know  how  essential 
their  services  are  to  us,  and  desire  the  colonel  or  com- 
manding officer  to  hasten  their  march  as  much  as  is  con- 
sistent with  the  health  of  the  men  after  their  late  fatigues. 

"  P.  S.  I  ordered  the  detachment  belonging  to  General 
McDougall's  division  to  come  forward.  If  you  meet  them, 
direct  those  belonging  to  Greene's,  Angel's,  Chandler's, 
and  Duryee's  regiments  not  to  cross  the  Delaware,  but  to 
proceed  to  Red  Bank." 

Colonel  Hamilton  proceeded,  by  way  of  New  Windsor, 
to  Fishkill,  the  head-quarters  of  General  Putnam,  whence, 
on  the  second  of  November,  he  wrote  to  Washington : 
"  I  lodged  last  night  in  the  neighborhood  of  New  Wind- 
sor. This  morning  early  I  met  Colonel  Morgan  with  his 
corps,  about  a  mile  from  it,  in  march  for  head-quarters. 
I  told  him  the  necessity  of  making  all  the  despatch  he 
could,  so  as  not  to  fatigue  his  men  too  much,  which  he  has 
promised  to  do. 

"  I  understood  from  Colonel  Morgan,  that  all  the  north- 
ern army  were  marching  down  on  both  sides  the  river, 
and  would,  probably,  be  to-morrow  at  New  Windsor  and 
this  place  ;  and  that  General  Putnam  had  held  a  council 
for  the  general  disposition  of  them,  in  which  it  was  re- 
solved to  send  you  four  thousand  men,  and  to  keep  the 
rest  on  this  side  the  river.  I  came  here  in  expectation 
that  matters  were  in  such  a  train  as  to  enable  me  to  ac- 
complish my  errand  without  going  any  farther  unless  it 
should  be  to  hasten  the  troops  that  were  on  their  march ; 
but  on  my  arrival,  I  learned  from  Mr.  Hughes,  an  aide- 


342  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

de-camp  of  General  Gates,  that  the  following  disposition 
of  the  northern  army  had  taken  place. 

"  Generals  Patterson's,  Glover's,  and  Nixon's  brigades, 
and  Colonel  Warner's  mountain  boys,  to  remain  in  and 
about  Albany, — barracks  building  for  them.  General 
Poor's  brigade  marching  down  this  side  of  the  river  to 
join  General  Putnam,  will  be  here  probably  to-morrow. 
General  Learned's  brigade,  Morgan's  corps,  Warner's 
brigade  of  Massachusetts  militia,  and  some  regiments  of 
New  York  militia,  on  their  march  on  the  west  side  of  the 
river. 

"  I  have  directed  General  Putnam,  in  your  name,  to 
send  forward  with  all  despatch  to  join  you,  the  two  conti- 
nental brigades  and  Warner's  militia  brigade  ;  this  last  is 
to  serve  till  the  latter  end  of  this  month.  Your  instruc- 
tions did  not  comprehend  any  militia,  but  as  there  are  cer- 
tain accounts  here  that  most  of  the  troops  from  New 
York  are  gone  to  reinforce  General  Howe,  and  as  so  large 
a  proportion  of  continental  troops  have  been  detained  at 
Albany,  I  concluded  you  would  not  disapprove  of  a  meas- 
ure calculated  to  strengthen  you,  though  but  for  a  small 
time,  and  have  ventured  to  adopt  it  on  that  presumption. 

"Being  informed  by  General  Putnam,  that  General 
Wynds,  with  seven  hundred  Jersey  militia,  was  at  King's 
Ferry,  with  intention  to  cross  to  Peekskill,  I  prevailed 
upon  him  to  relinquish  that  idea,  and  send  off  an  imme- 
diate order  for  them  to  march  towards  Red  Bank.  It  is 
possible,  however,  unless  your  excellency  supports  this 
order  by  an  application  from  yourself,  he  may  march  his 
men  home,  instead  of  marching  them  to  the  place  he  has 
been  directed  to  repair  to. 

"  Neither  Lee's,  Jackson's  regiments,  nor  the  detach- 
ments belonging  to  General  McDougall's  division,  have  yet 
marched.  I  have  urged  their  being  sent,  and  an  ordoi 


HAMILTON.  343 

has  been  despatched  for  their  instantly  proceeding.  Col- 
onel Hughes  is  pressing  some  fresh  horses  for  me.  The 
moment  they  are  ready,  I  shall  recross  the  river  in  order 
to  fall  in  with  the  troops  on  the  other  side,  and  make  all 
the  haste  I  can  to  Albany  to  get  the  three  brigades  there 
sent  forward. 

"Will  your  excellency  permit  me  to  observe,  that  I 
have  some  doubts,  under  present  circumstances  and  ap- 
pearances, of  the  propriety  of  leaving  the  regiments  pro- 
posed to  be  left  in  this  quarter  ?  But  if  my  doubts  on 
this  subject  were  stronger  than  they  are,  I  am  forbid,  by 
the  sense  of  council,  from  interfering  in  the  matter. 

"  General  Poor's  brigade  is  just  arrived  here ;  they 
will  proceed  to  join  you  with  all  expedition.  So  strongly 
am  I  impressed  with  the  importance  of  endeavoring  to 
crush  Mr.  Howe,  that  I  am  apt  to  think  it  would  be  ad- 
visable to  draw  off  all  the  continental  troops.  Had  this 
been  determined  on,  General  Warner's  sixteen  hundred 
militia  might  have  been  left  here." 

On  the  fourth,  Hamilton  arrived  at  Albany,  and  had 
an  interview  with  Gates  ;  the  result  is  stated  in  a  letter 
to  Washington : 

"  I  arrived  here  yesterday  at  noon,  and  waited  upon 
General  Gates  immediately  on  the  business  of  my  mission, 
but  was  sorry  to  find  his  ideas  did  not  correspond  with 
yours,  for  drawing  off  the  number  of  troops  you  directed. 
I  used  every  argument  in  my  power  to  convince  him  of 
the  propriety  of  the  measure,  but  he  was  inflexible  in 
the  opinion  that  two  brigades,  at  least,  of  continental 
troops  should  remain  in  and  near  this  place.  His  reasons 
were,  that  the  intelligence  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton's  having 
gone  to  join  Howe  was  not  sufficiently  authenticated  to 
put  it  out  of  doubt ;  that  there  was,  therefore,  a  possibili- 
ty of  his  returning  up  the  river,  which  might  expose  the 


344  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

finest  arsenal  in  America  (as  he  calls  the  one  here),  to  de- 
struction, should  this  place  be  left  so  bare  of  troops  as  I 
proposed,  and  that  the  want  of  conveniences  and  the  diffi- 
culty of  the  roads  would  make  it  impossible  to  remove 
artillery  and  stores  for  a  considerable  time ;  that  the  New 
England  States  would  be  left  open  to  the  depredations 
and  ravages  of  the  enemy  ;  that  it  would  put  it  out  of  his 
power  to  enterprise  any  thing  against  Ticonderoga,  which 
he  thinks  might  be  done  in  the  winter,  and  which  he  con- 
siders it  of  importance  to  undertake. 

"The  force  of  these  reasons  did  by  no  means  strike 
me ;  and  I  did  every  thing  in  my  power  to  show  they 
were  unsubstantial ;  but  all  I  could  effect  was  to  have  one 
brigade  despatched  in  addition  to  those  already  inarched. 
I  found  myself  infinitely  embarrassed,  and  was  at  a  loss 
how  to  act.  I  felt  the  importance  of  strengthening  you 
as  much  as  possible. ;  but  on  the  other  hand,  I  found  insu- 
perable inconveniences  in  acting  diametrically  opposite  to 
the  opinion  of  a  gentleman  whose  successes  have  raised 
him  to  the  highest  importance. 

"•General  Gates  has  won  the  entire  confidence  of  the 
Eastern  States.  If  disposed  to  do  it,  by  addressing  him- 
self to  the  prejudices  of  the  people,  he  would  find  no  diffi- 
culty to  render  a  measure  odious,  which,  it  might  be  said 
With  plausibility  enough  to  be  believed,  was  calculated  to 
expose  them  to  unnecessary  dangers,  notwithstanding 
their  exertions  during  the  campaign  had  given  them  the 
fullest  title  to  repose  and  security.  General  Gates  has 
influence  and  interest  elsewhere ;  he  might  use  it,  if  he 
pleased,  to  discredit  the  measure  there  also.  On  the 
whole,  it  appeared  to  me  dangerous  to  insist  on  sending 
more  troops  from  hence,  while  General  Gates  appeared 
so  warmly  opposed  to  it.  Should  any  accident  or  incon- 
venience happen  in  consequence  of  it,  there  would  be  too 


^Er.  20.]  HAMILTON.  345 

fair  a  pretext  for  censure,  and  many  people  are  loo  well 
disposed  to  lay  hold  of  it.  At  any  rate,  it  might  be  con- 
sidered as  using  him  ill,  to  take  a  step  so  contrary  to  his 
judgment  in  a  case  of  this  nature.  These  considerations, 
and  others  which  I  shall  be  more  explicit  in  when  I  have 
the  pleasure  of  seeing  you,  determined  me  not  to  insist 
upon  sending  either  of  the  other  brigades  remaining  here. 
I  am  afraid  what  I  have  done  may  not  meet  with  your 
approbation,  as  not  being  perhaps  fully  warranted  by  your 
instructions ;  but  I  ventured  to  do  what  I  thought  right, 
hoping  that  at  least  the  goodness  of  my  intention  will  ex- 
cuse the  error  of  my  judgment. 

"  I  was  induced  to  this  relaxation  the  more  readily,  as 
I  had  directed  to  be  sent  on  two  thousand  militia  which 
were  not  expected  by  you,  and  a  thousand  continental 
troops  out  of  those  proposed  to  be  left  with  General  Put- 
nam, which  I  have  written  to  him,  since  I  found  how  mat- 
ters were  circumstanced  here,  to  forward  to  you  with  all 
despatch.  I  did  this  for  several  reasons  : — because  your 
reinforcement  would  be  more  expeditious  from  that  place 
than  from  this  ;  because  two  thousand  continental  troops 
at  Peekskill  will  not  be  wanted  in  its  present  circum- 
stances, especially  as  it  was  really  necessary  to  have  a 
body  of  continental  troops  at  this  place  for  the  security 
of  the  valuable  stores  here,  and  I  should  not,  if  I  had  my 
wish,  think  it  expedient  to  draw  off  more  than  two  of  the 
three  brigades  now  here. 

"  This  being  the  case,  one  of  the  ends  you  proposed  to 
be  answered,  by  leaving  the  ten  regiments  with  General 
Putnam,  will  be  equally  answered  by  the  troops  here,  I 
mean  that  of  covering  and  fortifying  the  Eastern  States ; 
and  one  thousand  continental  troops  in  addition  to  the 
'militia  collected  and  that  may  be  collected  here,  will  be 
sufficient  in  the  Highlands  for  covering  the  country  down 


346  THE   KEPUBLIC.  [1777. 

that  way,  and  carrying  on  the  works  necessary  to  be 
raised  for  the  defence  of  the  river. 

"  The  troops  gone  and  going  to  reinforce  you,  are  near 
five  thousand  rank  and  file  continental  troops,  and  two 
thousand  five  hundred  Massachusetts  and  New  Hampshire 
militia.  These,  and  the  seven  hundred  Jersey  militia,  will 
be  a  larger  reinforcement  than  you  expected,  though  not 
quite  an  equal  number  of  continental  troops,  nor  exactly 
in  the  way  directed.  General  Lincoln  tells  me  the  militia 
are  very  excellent,  and  though  their  times  will  be  out  by 
the  last  of  this  month,  you  will  be  able,  if  you  think 
proper,  to  order  the  troops  still  remaining  here  to  join 
you  by  the  time  their  term  of  service  expires. 

"  I  cannot  forbear  being  uneasy  lest  my  conduct 
should  prove  displeasing  to  you,  but  I  have  done  what, 
considering  all  circumstances,  appeared  to  me  most  eligi- 
ble and  prudent.  Vessels  are  preparing  to  carry  the 
brigade  to  New  Windsor,  which  will  embark  this  even- 
ing. I  shall,  this  afternoon,  set  out  on  my  return  to 
camp,  and  on  my  way  shall  endeavor  to  hasten  the  troops 
forward." 

Disappointed  in  the  orders  issued  by  Gates,  Hamilton, 
in  pursuance  of  the  requisition  of  the  commander-in-chief, 
addressed  him  on  the  fifth  of  November,  prior  to  his  de- 
parture from  Albany,  in  the  following  decisive  terms  : 

"  By  inquiry,  I  have  learned  that  General  Patterson's 
brigade,  which  is  the  one  you  propose  to  send,  is  by  far 
the  weakest  of  the  three  now  here,  and  does  not  consist 
of  more  than  about  six  hundred  rank  and  file  fit  for  duty. 
It  is  true,  that  there  is  a  militia  regiment  with  it  of  about 
two  hundred,  but  the  time  of  service  for  which  this  regi- 
ment is  engaged  is  so  near  expiring,  that  it  would  be  past 
by  the  time  the  men  could  arrive  at  their  destination. 

"Under   these    circumstances,    I    cannot    consider   it 


MT.  20.]  HAMILTON.  347 

either  as  compatible  with  the  good  of  the  service,  or  my 
instructions  from  his  excellency  General  Washington,  to 
consent  that  that  brigade  be  selected  from  the  three  to  go 
to  him,  but  I  am  under  the  necessity  of  desiring,  by  virtue 
of  my  orders  from  him,  that  one  of  the  others  be  substi- 
tuted instead  of  this,  either  General  Nixon's  or  General 
Glover's,  and  that  you  will  be  pleased  to  give  immediate 
orders  for  its  embarkation. 

"  Knowing  that  General  Washington  wished  me  to 
pay  the  greatest  deference  to  your  judgment,  I  ventured 
so  far  to  deviate  from  the  instructions  he  gave  me,  as  to 
consent,  in  compliance  with  your  opinion,  that  two  brig- 
ades should  remain  here  instead  of  one.  At  the  same 
time,  permit  me  to  observe,  that  I  am  not  myself  sensible 
of  the  expediency  of  keeping  more  than  one,  with  the 
detached  regiments  in  the  neighborhood  of  this  place,  and 
that  my  ideas  coincide  with  those  gentlemen  whom  I  have 
consulted  on  the  occasion,  whose  judgment  I  have  much 
more  reliance  upon  than  on  my  own,  and  who  must  be 
supposed  to  have  a  thorough  knowledge  of  all  the  circum- 
stances. Their  opinion  is,  that  one  brigade  and  the  regi- 
ments before  mentioned  would  amply  answer  the  pur- 
poses of  this  post.  When  I  preferred  your  opinion  to 
other  considerations,  I  did  not  imagine  you  would  pitch 
upon  a  brigade  little  more  than  half  as  lyrge  as  the  others, 
and  finding  this  to  be  the  case,  I  indispensably  owe  it  to 
my  duty  to  desire,  in  his  excellency's  name,  that  another 
may  go  instead  of  the  one  intended,  and  without  loss  of 
time.  As  it  may  be  conducive  to  despatch,  to  send  Glov- 
er's brigade  ;  if  agreeable  to  you,  you  will  give  orders  ac- 
cordingly." 

Upon  the  receipt  of  this  letter,  Gates  gave  the  re- 
quired order,  and  soon  after  wrote  to  Washington,  stat- 
ing his  reasons  for  not  having  readily  complied  with  the 


318  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

requisition  made  by  Hamilton.  These  were, — his  appre- 
hension that  the  force  at  Peekskill  could  not  prevent  the 
enemy  from  destroying  the  city  of  Albany  and  the  arse- 
nal ;  and  his  entire  aversion  to  send  more  than  one  brig- 
ade, lest  every  good  effect  of  the  ruin  of  Burgoyne's 
army  should  be  totally  lost  by  the  possession  of  that 
town! 

A  letter  from  the  head  of  Gates'  staff*  written  at  this 
time  from  Albany  shows  the  prevailing  feeling  :  "  Yester- 
day arrived  in  town  Colonel  Hamilton.  General  Glover's 
brigade,  in  addition  to  others,  are  under  orders.  I  hope 
they  will  be  able  to  drive  Mr.  Howe,  when  the  whole  con- 
tinent are  collected."  Hamilton,  to  make  up  the  appre- 
hended deficiency,  sent  instantly  an  express  to  Putnam 
with  an  order  to  send  forward  a  thousand  more  conti- 
nental troops  than  he  had  previously  ordered.  Putnam 
wrote  to  Washington :  "  This  will  leave  me  with  about 
three  hundred  continental  troops,  and  no  militia  except 
those  whose  times  are  out  the  first  of  December,  to  cover 
all  this  distressed  country.  I  do  not  think  I  can  justify 
myself  in  this  without  first  acquainting  you,  and  if  I  then 
have  your  excellency's  orders,  I  will,  with  pleasure,  im- 
mediately and  promptly  comply  with  them." 

Having  concluded  his  mission  to  Gates,  Hamilton  has- 
tened to  New  Windsor,  and  finding  Putnam's  indisposition 
to  send  forward  the  required  reinforcement,  he  wrote  him 
this  emphatic  order  on  the  ninth  :  "  I  cannot  forbear  con- 
fessing that  I  am  astonished  and  alarmed  beyond  measure, 
to  find  that  all  his  excellency's  views  have  been  hitherto 
frustrated,  and  that  no  single  step  of  those  I  mentioned  to 
you  has  been  taken  to  afford  him  the  aid  he  absolutely 
stands  in  need  of,  and  by  delaying  which,  the  cause  of 
America  is  put  to  the  utmost  conceivable  hazard. 

*  J.  Trumbull,  jr.,  to  Gor.  Trumbull,  Nov.  6,  1 777. 


Mf.  20.]  HAMILTON.  349 

"  I  so  fully  explained  to  you  the  general's  situation, 
that  I  could  not  entertain  a  doubt  that  you  would  make 
it  the  first  object  of  your  attention  to  reinforce  him  with 
that  speed  the  exigency  of  affairs  demanded  ;  but  I  am 
sorry  to  say,  he  will  have  too  much  reason  to  think  other 
objects,  in  comparison  with  that,  insignificant,  have  been 
uppermost.  I  speak  freely  and  emphatically,  because  I 
tremble  at  the  consequences  of  the  delay  that  has  hap- 
pened. General  Clinton's  reinforcement  is  probably  by 
this  time  with  Mr.  Howe.  This  will  give  him  a  decisive 
superiority  over  our  army.  What  may  be  the  issue  of 
such  a  state  of  things,  I  leave  to  the  feelings  of  every 
friend  to  his  country,  capable  of  foreseeing  consequences. 
My  expressions  may  perhaps  have  more  warmth  than  is 
altogether  proper ;  but  they  proceed  from  the  overflow- 
ing of  my  heart,  in  a  matter  where  I  conceive  this  conti- 
nent essentially  interested.  I  wrote  to  you  from  Albany, 
and  desired  you  would  send  a  thousand  continental  troops 
of  those  first  proposed  to  be  left  with  you.  This,  I  un- 
derstand, has  not  been  done.  How  the  non-compliance 
can  be  answered  to  General  Washington,  you  can  best 
determine. 

"  I  now,  sir,  in  the  most  explicit  terms,  by  his  excellen- 
cy's authority,  give  it  as  a  positive  order  from  him,  that 
all  the  continental  troops  under  your  command  may  be 
immediately  marched  to  King's  Ferry,  there  to  cross  the 
river,  and  hasten  to  reinforce  the  army  under  him. 

"  The  Massachusetts  militia  are  to  be  detained  instead 
of  them,  until  the  troops  coming  from  the  northward  ar- 
rive. When  they  do,  they  will  replace,  as  far  as  I  am 
insti  ucted,  the  troops  you  shall  send  away  in  consequence 
of  this  requisition.  The  general's  idea  of  keeping  troops 
this  way  does  not  extend  farther  than  covering  the  coun- 
try from  any  little  irruptions  of  small  parties,  and  carrying 


350  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

on  the  works  necessary  for  the  security  of  the  river.  As 
to  attacking  New  York,  that  he  thinks  ought  to  be  out  of 
the  question  at  present.  If  men  could  be  spared  from 
the  other  really  necessary  objects,  he  would  have  no  ob- 
jections to  attempting  a  diversion  by  way  of  New  York, 
but  nothing  farther. 

"  As  the  times  of  the  Massachusetts  and  New  Hamp- 
shire militia  will  soon  expire,  it  will  be  proper  to  call  in 
time  for  a  reinforcement  from  Connecticut.  Governor 
Clinton  will  do  all  in  his  power  to  promote  objects  in 
which  the  State  he  commands  in  is  so  immediately  con- 
cerned. Generals  Glover's  and  Patterson's  brigades  are 
on  their  way  down.  The  number  of  continental  troops 
necessary  for  this  post  will  be  furnished  out  of  them. 

"  I  cannot  but  have  the  fullest  confidence  you  will  use 
your  utmost  exertions  to  execute  the  business  of  this  letter  ; 
and  I  am  with  great  respect,  sir,  your  most  obedient  ser- 
vant." 

The  next  day  he  wrote  to  Washington : 

"  I  arrived  here  last  night  from  Albany.  Having 
given  General  Gates  a  little  time  to  recollect  himself,  I 
renewed  my  remonstrance  on  the  necessity  and  propriety 
of  sending  you  more  than  one  brigade  of  the  three  he  had 
detained  with  him,  and  finally  prevailed  upon  him  to  give 
orders  for  Glover's,  in  addition  to  Patterson's  brigade,  to 
march  this  way. 

"  As  it  was  thought  conducive  to  expedition  to  send 
the  troops  by  water  as  far  as  it  could  be  done,  I  procured 
all  the  vessels  that  could  be  had  at  Albany  fit  for  the  pur- 
pose, but  could  not  get  more  than  sufficient  to  take  Pat- 
terson's brigade.  It  was  embarked  the  7th  instant,  but 
the  wind  has  been  contrary ;  they  must  probably  be  here 
to-day.  General  Glover's  brigade  marched  at  the  same 
time,  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  the  roads  being  much 


^Er.  iiO.]  HAMILTON.  351 

better  than  on  this  side.  I  am  at  this  moment  informed, 
that  one  sloop  with  a  part  of  Patterson's  has  arrived,  and 
that  the  others  are  in  sight.  They  will  immediately  pro- 
ceed by  water  to  King's  Ferry,  and  thence  take  the  short- 
est route. 

"  I  am  pained  beyond  expression  to  inform  your  ex- 
cellency that  on  my  arrival  here,  I  find  every  thing  has 
been  neglected  and  deranged  by  General  Putnam,  and  that 
the  two  brigades,  Poor's  and  Learned's,  still  remain  here 
and  on  the  other  side  of  the  river  at  Fishkill.  Colonel 
Warner's  militia,  I  am  told,  have  been  drawn  to  Peeks- 
kill,  to  aid  in  an  expedition  against  New  York,  which  it 
seems  is,  at  this  time,  the  hobby-horse  with  General  Put- 
nam. Not  the  least  attention  has  been  paid  to  my  order 
in  your  name  for  a  detachment  of  one  thousand  men  from 
the  troops  hitherto  stationed  at  this  post.  Every  thing  is 
sacrificed  to  the  whim  of  taking  New  York. 

"  The  two  brigades  of  Poor  and  Learned,  it  appears, 
would  not  march  for  want  of  money  and  necessaries ; 
several  of  the  regiments  having  received  no  pay  for  six 
or  eight  months  past.  There  has  been  a  high  mutiny 
among  the  former  on  this  account,  in  which  a  captain 
killed  a  man,  and  was  himself  shot  by  his  comrade. 
These  difficulties,  for  want  of  proper  management,  have 
stopped  the  troops  from  proceeding.  Governor  Clinton 
has  been  the  only  man  who  has  done  any  thing  towards 
removing  them,  but  for  want  of  General  Putnam's  co-op- 
eration, has  not  been  able  to  effect  it.  He  has  only  been 
able  to  prevail  with  Learned's  brigade  to  agree  to  march 
to  Goshen,  in  hopes  by  getting  them  once  on  the  go,  to 
induce  them  to  continue  their  march.  On  coming  here,  1 
immediately  sent  for  Colonel  Bailey,  who  now  commands 
Learned's  brigade,  and  persuaded  him  to  engage  to  carry 
the  brigade  on  to  head-quarters  as  fast  as  possible.  This 


352  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777 

he  expects  to  effect  by  means  of  five  or  six  thousand  dol- 
lars, which  Governor  Clinton  was  kind  enough  to  borrow 
for  me,  and  which  Colonel  Bailey  thinks  will  keep  the 
men  in  good  humor  till  they  join  you.  They  marched  this 
morning  towards  Goshen. 

"  I  shall,  as  soon  as  possible,  see  General  Poor,  and  do 
every  thing  in  my  power  to  get  him  along,  and  hope  I 
shall  be  able  to  succeed. 

"  The  plan  I  before  laid  having  been  totally  deranged, 
a  new  one  has  become  necessary.  It  is  now  too  late  to 
send  Warner's  militia ;  by  the  time  they  reached  you. 
their  term  of  service  would  be  out.  The  motive  for 
sending  them,  which  was  to  give  you  a  speedy  reinforce- 
ment, has,  by  the  past  delay,  been  superseded. 

"  By  Governor  Clinton's  advice,  I  have  sent  an  order 
in  the  most  emphatical  terms  to  General  Putnam,  imme- 
diately to  despatch  all  the  continental  troops  under  him 
to  your  assistance,  and  to  detain  the  militia  instead  of 
them. 

"  My  opinion  is,  that  the  only  present  use  for  troops 
in  this  quarter  is,  to  protect  the  country  from  the  depre- 
dations of  little  plundering  parties,  and  for  carrying  on 
the  works  necessary  for  the  defence  of  the  river.  Nothing 
more  ought  to  be  thought  of.  'Tis  only  wasting  time  and 
misapplying  men  to  employ  them  in  a  suicidal  parade 
against  New  York, — for  in  this  it  will  undoubtedly  ter- 
minate. New  York  is  no  object,  if  it  could  be  taken,  and 
to  take  it  would  require  more  men  than  could  be  spared 
from  more  substantial  purposes.  Governor  Clinton's  ideas 
coincide  with  mine*  He  thinks  that  there  is  no  need  of 
more  continental  troops  here  than  a  few  to  give  a  spur  to 
the  militia  in  working  upon  the  fortifications.  In  pursu- 
ance of  this,  I  have  given  the  directions  before  mentioned* 
If  General  Putnam  attends  to  them,  the  troops  under  him 


JEr.  20.]  HAMILTON.  353 

may  be  with  you  nearly  as  early  as  any  of  the  others, 
(though  he  has  unluckily  marched  them  down  to  Tarry- 
town,)  and  General  Glover's  brigade,  when  it  gets  up, 
will  be  more  than  sufficient  to  answer  the  true  end  of  this 
post. 

"  If  your  excellency  agrees  with  me  in  opinion,  it  will 
be  well  to  send  instant  directions  to  General  Putnam  to 
pursue  the  object  1  have  mentioned,  for  I  doubt  whether 
he  will  attend  to  any  thing  I  shall  say,  notwithstanding  it 
comes  in  the  shape  of  a  positive  order.  I  fear  unless  you 
interpose,  the  works  here  will  go  on  so  feebly  for  want 
of  men,  that  they  will  not  be  completed  in  time  ;  whereas, 
it  appears  to  me  of  the  greatest  importance  they  should 
be  pushed  with  the  utmost  vigor.  Governor  Clinton  will 
do  every  thing  in  his  power.  I  wish  General  Putnam 
was  recalled  from  the  command  of  this  post,  and  Gov- 
ernor Clinton  would  accept  it : — the  blunders  and  caprices 
of  the  former  are  endless.  Believe  me,  sir,  nobody  can 
be  more  impressed  with  the  importance  of  forwarding 
the  reinforcements  coming  to  you  with  all  speed,  nor 
could  any  body  have  endeavored  to  promote  it  more  than 
I  have  done  ;  but  the  ignorance  of  some,  and  the  design 
of  others,  have  been  almost  insuperable  obstacles.  I  am 
very  unwell,  but  I  shall  not  spare  myself  to  get  things 
immediately  in  a  proper  train,  and  for  that  purpose  intend, 
unless  I  receive  other  orders  from  you,  to  continue  with 
the  troops  in  the  progress  of  their  march.  As  soon  as  I 
get  General  Poor's  brigade  in  march,  I  shall  proceed  to 
General  Putnam's  at  Peekskill." 

Two  days  after  he  again  wrote  to  Washington :  "  I 
have  been  detained  here  these  two  days  by  a  fever  and 
violent  rheumatic  pains  throughout  my  body.  This  has 
prevented  my  being  active  in  person  for  promoting  the 
purposes  of  my  errand,  but  I  have  taken  every  other 
VOL.  I.— 23 


354  THE   KEPUBL1C.  [IW. 

method  in  my  power,  in  which  Governor  Clinton  has 
obligingly  given  me  all  the  aid  he  could.  In  answer  to 
my  pressing  application  to  General  Poor  for  the  immediate 
marching  of  his  brigade,  I  was  told  that  they  were  under 
an  operation  for  the  itch,  which  made  it  impossible  for  them 
to  proceed,  till  the  effects  of  it  were  over.  By  a  letter, 
however,  of  yesterday,  General  Poor*  informs  me  he 
would  certainly  march  this  morning.  I  must  do  him  the 
justice  to  say  he  appears  solicitous  to  join  you,  and  that 
I  believe  the  past  delay  is  not  owing  to  any  fault  of  his, 
but  is  wholly  chargeable  on  General  Putnam.  Indeed, 
sir,  I  owe  it  to  the  service  to  say,  that  every  part  of  this 
gentleman's  conduct  is  marked  with  blunder  and  negli- 
gence, and  gives  general  disgust. 

"  Parsons'  brigade  will  join  you,  I  hope,  in  five  or  six 
days  from  this  ;  Learned's  brigade  may  do  the  same  : 
Poor's  will,  I  am  persuaded,  make  all  the  haste  they  can 
for  the  future,  and  Glover's  may  be  expected  at  Fishkill 
to-night,  whence  they  will  be  pushed  forward  as  fast  as  I 
can  have  any  influence  to  make  them  go ;  but  I  am  sorry 
to  say,  the  disposition  for  marching,  in  the  officers  and 
men,  does  not  keep  pace  with  my  wishes  or  the  exigency 
of  the  occasion.  They  have  unfortunately  imbibed  an 
idea  that  they  have  done  their  part  of  the  business  of  the 
campaign,  and  are  now  entitled  to  repose.  This,  and  the 
want  of  pay,  makes  them  averse  to  a  long  march  at  this 
advanced  season. 

"  *  *  *  *  In  a  letter  from  General  Putnam,  just  now 
received  by  Governor  Clinton,  he  appears  to  have  been 
the  10th  instant  at  King's  Street,  at  the  White  Plains. 
I  have  had  no  answer  to  my  last  applications.  The  ene- 

*  This  gentleman  died  9th  September,  1780.  Washington  says  of  him, — 
41  an  officer  of  distinguished  merit,  who,  as  a  citizen  and  a  soldier,  had  every 
claim  to  the  esteem  of  his  country.'' 


JK.T.  20.]  HAMILTON.  355 

my  appear  to  have  stripped  New  York  very  bare.  The 
people  there,  that  is  the  tories,  are  in  a  great  fright :  this 
adds  to  my  anxiety  that  the  reinforcements  from  this 
quarter  to  you  are  not  in  greater  forwardness  and  more 
considerable. 

"  I  have  written  to  General  Gates,  informing  him  ot 
the  accounts  of  the  situation  of  New  York  with  respect 
to  troops,  and  the  probability  of  the  force  gone  to  Howe 
being  greater  than  was  at  first  expected,  to  try  if  this  will 
not  extort  from  him  a  farther  reinforcement.  I  don't, 
however,  expect  much  from  him,  as  he  pretends  to  have 
in  view  an  expedition  against  Ticonderoga,  to  be  under- 
taken in  the  winter,  and  he  knows  that  under  the  sanction 
of  this  idea,  calculated  to  catch  the  eastern  people,  he 
may,  without  censure,  retain  the  troops ;  and  as  I  shall  be 
under  the  necessity  of  speaking  plainly  to  you  when  I 
have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you,  I  shall  not  hesitate  to 
say,  I  doubt  whether  you  would  have  had  a  man  from  the 
northern  army  if  the  whole  could  have  been  kept  at 
Albany  with  any  decency.  Perhaps  you  will  think  me 
blamable  in  not  having  exercised  the  powers  you  gave 
me,  and  given  a  positive  order.  Perhaps  I  have  been  so ; 
but  deliberately  weighing  all  circumstances,  I  did  not,  and 
do  not  think  it  advisable  to  do  it." 

Hamilton  the  same  day  crossed  the  river  to  Fishkill,  in 
order  to  have  another  interview  with  Putnam,  whence  he 
wrote  a  second  letter  to  Gates  : 

"  Ever  since  my  arrival  in  this  quarter,  I  have  been 
endeavoring  to  collect  the  best  idea  I  could  of  the  state 
of  things  in  New  York,  in  order  the  better  to  form  a 
judgment  of  the  probable  reinforcement  gone  to  General 
Howe.  On  the  whole,  this  is  a  fact  well  ascertained,  that 
New  York  has  been  stripped  as  bare  as  possible ;  that  in 
consequence  of  this,  the  few  troops  there  and  the  inhab- 


356  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

itants  are  under  so  strong  apprehensions  of  an  attack,  as 
almost  to  amount  to  a  panic  ;  that  to  supply  the  deficiency 
of  men,  every  effort  is  making  to  excite  the  citizens  to 
arms  for  the  defence  of  the  city.  For  this  purpose  the 
public  papers  are  full  of  addresses  to  them,  that  plainly 
speak  the  apprehensions  prevailing  on  the  occasion. 

"Hence  I  infer  that  a  formidable  force  is  gone  to 
General  Howe.  The  calculations  made  by  those  who  have 
had  the  best  opportunities  of  judging,  carry  the  number 
from  six  to  seven  thousand.  If  so,  the  number  gone  and 
going  to  General  Washington  is  far  inferior, — five  thou- 
sand at  the  utmost.  The  militia  were  all  detained  by 
General  Putnam,  till  it  became  too  late  to  send  them. 

"  The  state  of  things  I  gave  you  when  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  you,  was,  to  the  best  of  my  judgment, 
sacredly  true.  I  give  you  the  present  information,  that 
you-  may  decide  whether  any  farther  succor  can  with 
propriety  come  from  you. 

"  The  fleet,  with  the  troops  on  board,  sailed  out  of  the 
Hook  the  fifth  instant.  This  circumstance  demonstrates, 
beyond  a  possibility  of  doubt,  that  it  is  General  Howe's 
fixed  intention  to  endeavor  to  hold  Philadelphia  at  all 
hazards,  and  removes  all  danger  of  any  farther  operations 
up  the  North  River  this  winter ;  otherwise  Sir  Henry 
Clinton's  movement  at  this  advanced  season  is  altogether 
inexplicable. 

"  If  you  can  with  propriety  afford  any  farther  assist- 
ance, the  most  expeditious  mode  of  conveying  it  will  be 
to  acquaint  General  Putnam  of  it,  that  he  may  send  on 
the  troops  with  him,  to  be  replaced  by  them.  You,  sir, 
best  know  the  uses  to  which  the  troops  with  you  are  to 
be  applied,  and  will  determine  accordingly.  I  am  certain 
if  is  not  his  excellency's  wish  to  frustrate  any  plan  you 
may  have  in  view  for  the  benefit  of  the  service,  so  far  as 


^ET.  20.]  HAMILTON.  357 

it  can  possibly  be  avoided,  consistent  with  a  due  attention 
to  more  important  objects." 

He  proceeded  through  the  Highlands  to  Peeks-kill, 
where,  becoming  seriously  indisposed,  he  addressed  a 
letter  to  General  Washington,  dated  the  fifteenth  of  .No- 
vember : 

"  I  arrived  at  this  place  last  night,  and  unfortunately 
find  myself  unable  to  proceed  any  farther.  Imagining  I 
had  gotten  the  better  of  my  complaint  which  confined  me 
at  Governor  Clinton's,  and  anxious  to  be  about  attending 
to  the  march  of  the  troops,  the  day  before  yesterday  I 
crossed  the  ferry,  in  order  to  fall  in  with  General  Glover's 
brigade,  which  was  on  its  marc'h  from  Poughkeepsie  to 
Fishkill.  I  did  not,  however,  see  it  myself,  but  received  a 
letter  from  Colonel  Shepherd,  who  commands  the  brigade, 
informing  me  he  would  be  last  night  at  Fishkill,  and  this 
night  at  King's  Ferry.  Wagons,  &c.  are  provided  on  the 
other  side  for  his  accommodation,  so  that  there  need  be 
no  delay  but  what  is  voluntary;  and  I  believe  Colonel 
Shepherd  is  as  well  disposed  as  could  be  wished  to  hasten 
his  march.  General  Poor's  brigade  crossed  the  ferry  the 
day  before  yesterday.  Two  York  regiments,  Cortland's 
and  Livingston's,  are  with  them :  they  were  unwilling  to 
be  separated  from  the  brigade,  and  the  brigade  from  them. 
General  Putnam  was  unwilling  to  keep  them  with  him, 
and  if  he  had  consented  to  do  it,  the  regiments  to  replace 
them  would  not  join  you  six  days  as  soon  as  these.  The 
troops  now  remaining  with  General  Putnam,  will  amount 
to  about  the  number  you  intended,  though  they  are  not 
exactly  the  same.  He  has  detached  Colonel  Charles 
Webb's  regiment  to  you.  He  says  the  troops  with  him 
are  not  in  a  condition  to  march,  being  destitute  of  shoes, 
stockings,  and  other  necessaries  ;  but  I  believe  the  true 
reasons  of  his  being  unwilling  to  pursue  the  mode  pointed 


358  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

out  by  you,  were  his  aversion  to  the  York  troops,  and  his 
desire  to  retain  General  Parsons  with  him." 

Exhausted  by  his  exertions,  and  suffering  under  severe 
indisposition,  he  was  prevented  rejoining  the  army  until  a 
short  time  before  it  entered  into  winter  quarters  at  Valley 
Forge.  While  anxiously  waiting  his  recovery,  in  the  ex- 
pectation of  participating  in  the  decisive  blow  which  he 
still  cherished  the  hope  might  be  given  to  the  enemy,  he 
had  the  gratification  of  receiving  a  letter  from  General 
Washington,  of  the  same  date  with  the  preceding. 

"  DEAR  SIR, — I  have  duly  received  your  several  favors 
from  the  time  you  left  me  to  that  of  the  twelfth  instant. 
I  approve  entirely  of  all  the  steps  you  have  taken,  and 
have  only  to  wish  that  .the  exertions  of  those  you  have 
had  to  deal  with,  had  kept  pace  with  your  zeal  and  good 
intentions.  I  hope  your  health  will,  before  this,  have  per- 
mitted you  to  push  on  the  rear  of  the  whole  reinforcement 
beyond  New  Windsor.  Some  of  the  enemy's  ships  have 
arrived  in  the  Delaware,  but  how  many  have  troops  on 
board,  I  cannot  exactly  ascertain.  The  enemy  has  lately 
damaged  Fort  Mifflin  considerably,  but  our  people  keep 
possession  and  seem  determined  to  do  so  to  the  last  ex- 
tremity. Our  loss  in  men  has  been  but  small, — Captain 
Treat  is  unfortunately  among  the  killed.  I  wish  you  a 
safe  return,  and  am,  dear  sir." 

His  conduct  during  this  mission  was  subsequently  ad- 
verted to  as  highly  indicative  of  the  qualities  of  his  char- 
acter. 

In  his  explanatory  letter  to  Washington,  Putnam  en- 
closed to  him  a  copy  of  Hamilton's  letter.  "  This  letter," 
he  observed,  "  contains  some  most  unjust  and  injurious  re- 
flections ;  for  I  am  conscious  of  having  done  every  thing 
in  my  power  to  succor  you  as  speedily  as  possible."  It 
was  not  the  first  time  Putnam  had  received  censure  far 


^Ex.  20.]  HAMILTON.  359 

disobedience  to  orders.*  Washington  immediately  re- 
plied :  "  The  urgency  of  Colonel  Hamilton's  letter  was 
owing  to  his  knowledge  of  our  wants  in  this  quarter,  and 
to  a  certainty  that  there  was  no  danger  to  be  apprehended 
from  New  York,  if  you  sent  all  the  continental  troops  that 
were  then  with  you,  and  waited  to  replace  them  by  those 
expected  down  the  river.  I  cannot  but  say  there  has  been 
more  delay  in  the  march  of  the  troops  than  I  think  neces- 
sary ;  and  I  could  wish  that  in  future  my  orders  may  be 
immediately  complied  with,  without  arguing  upon  the 
propriety  of  them.  If  any  accident  ensues  from  obeying 
them,  the  fault  will  lie  upon  me,  and  not  upon  you." 

The  recent  foray  of  the  enemy  up  the  Hudson  indi- 
cated the  necessity  of  establishing  an  effective,  command- 
ing post  in  the  Highlands.  With  this  view,  on  the  second 
of  December,  soon  after  his  return  to  head-quarters, 
Hamilton,  in  behalf  of  Washington,  wrote  to  Putnam, 
urging  the  erection  of  works  on  that  river,  the  import- 
ance of  which,  in  his  recent  journey,  he  had  seen  in  all  its 
extent. 

"  The  importance  of  the  North  River  in  the  present 
contest,  and  the  necessity  of  defending  it,  are  subjects 
which  have  been  so  frequently  and  so  fully  discussed  and 
are  so  well  understood,  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  enlarge 
upon  them.  These  facts  at  once  appear,  when  it  is  con- 
sidered that  it  runs  through  a  whole  State — that  it  is  the 
only  passage  by  which  the  enemy  from  New  York  or  any 
part  of  our  coast  can  ever  hope  to  co-operate  with  an 
army  that  may  come  from  Canada  ;  that  the  possession  of 
it  is  indispensably  essential  to  preserve  the  communication 
between  the  Eastern,  Middle  and  Southern  States  ;  and 
further,  that  upon  its  security  in  a  great  measure  depend 
our  chief  supplies  of  flour  for  the  subsistence  of  such 

*  Washington  to  Reed,  Jan.  15,  1777. 


360  THE   KEPUBLIC.  [1777. 

forces  as  we  may  have  occasion  for  in  the  course  of  the 
war  either  in  the  eastern  or  northern  department,  or  in 
the  country  lying  high  up  on  the  west  side  of  it.  These 
facts  are  familiar  to  all,  they  are  familiar  to  you.  I  there- 
fore request  you,  in  the  most  urgent  terms,  to  turn  your 
most  serious  and  active  attention  to  this  very  and  infin- 
itely important  object.  Seize  the  present  opportunity, 
and  employ  your  whole  force  and  all  the  means  in  your 
power  for  erecting  and  completing,  as  far  as  shall  be 
possible,  such  works  and  obstructions  as  may  be  necessary 
to  defend  and  secure  the  river  against  any  future  attempts 
of  the  enemy.  You  will  consult  Governor  Clinton,  Gen- 
eral Parsons,  and  the  French  engineer,  Colonel  Radiere, 
upon  the  occasion.  By  gaining  the  passage,  you  know 
the  enemy  have  already  laid  waste  and  destroyed  all  the 
houses,  mills  and  towns  accessible  to  them.  Unless  pro- 
per measures  are  taken  to  prevent  them,  they  will  renew 
their  ravages  in  the  spring,  or  as  soon  as  the  season  will 
admit,  and  perhaps  Albany,  the  only  town  in  the  State  of 
any  importance  remaining  in  our  hands,  may  undergo 
a  like  fate,  and  a  general  havoc  and  devastation  take 
place. 

"  To  prevent  these  evils,  therefore,  I  shall  expect  that 
you  will  exert  every  nerve  and  employ  your  whole  force 
in  future,  while  and  whenever  it  is  practicable,  in  con- 
structing and  forwarding  the  proposed  works  and  means 
of  defence.  They  must  not  be  kept  out  on  command, 
and  acting  in  detachments  to  cover  the  country  below, 
which  is  a  consideration  infinitely  less  important  and  in- 
teresting." 

The  peremptory  tone  of  this  letter  shows  the  impres- 
sion Putnam's  conduct  had  produced.  Not  willing  to  in- 
cur any  further  hazards  from  his  misconduct,  he  was  soon 
after  ordered  to  join  the  main  army.  It  was  supposed  he 


Mi.  20. J  HAMILTON.  301 

would  be  arrested.*  A  milder  measure  was  preferred.  He 
was  sent  temporarily  to  Connecticut  until  the  public  feel- 
ing should  be  quieted.  Some  time  after  he  was  attacked 
with  paralysis.  Nevertheless  he  retained  his  commission, 
and  near  the  end  of  the  war  received  a  soothing  letter 
from  head-quarters. 

During  the  period  of  Hamilton's  absence,  Howe  was 
continuing  his  efforts  to  reduce  the  works  on  the  Dela- 
ware. On  the  sixteenth  of  November,  after  a  most  gal- 
lant defence,  Fort  Mifflin  was  found  to  be  no  longer  tena- 
ble. "  The  fire  the  last  day  of  the  siege,"  General  Knox 
wrote  to  Colonel  Lamb,  "  exceeded  by  far  any  thing  seen 
in  America.  The  enemy  had  five  .batteries  on  Province 
Island  of  eighteens,  twenty-fours,  and  thirty-two  pound- 
ers, at  five  hundred  yards  distance.  Besides  these,  they 
brought  up  the  new  channel  the  large  floating  battery 
which  was  cut  down  in  New  York,  mounting  twenty-two 
twenty-four  pounders,  within  forty  yards  of  an  angle  of 
the  battery  on  Mud  Island.  Four  sixty-four  gun  ships 
within  about  nine  hundred  yards,  and  two  forty  gun  ships. 
The  incessant  fire  of  these,  joined  with  the  fire  of  our 
floating  batteries  and  gondolas,  formed  a  scene  truly  pic- 
turesque, of  the  horrors  and  grandeur  of  war.  The  fire 
began  at  ten  in  the  morning  and  lasted  till  late  in  the 
night.  The  brave  little  garrison,  then  commanded  by 
Major  Thayer  of  the  Rhode  Island  troops,  had  but  two 
cannon  not  dismounted.  These  soon  shared  the  fate  of 
the  others.  Every  body  who  appeared  on  the  platform 
were  killed  or  wounded  by  the  musketry  from  the  tops  of 

*  "  For  your  comfort,  I  can  tell  you  that  old  Putnam  is  ordered  on 

to  the  main  army,  and  a  trial  is  inevitable.  God  speed  it.'' — Major  Platt  to 
Colonel  Lamb,  Nov.  29,  1777. 

Washington  to  Jay,  April  14,  1779,  as  to  command  of  expedition  to  Indi- 
ans :  "  Putnam  I  need  not  mention." — Jay's  Life,  ii.  42. 


362  THE  EEPUBLIC.  [1777. 

the  ships,  whose  yards  almost  hung  over  the  battery. 
Long  before  night  there  was  not  a  single  palissade  left. 
All  the  embrasures  ruined  and  the  whole  parapet  levelled. 
All  the  block  houses  had  been  battered  down  some  days 
before.  The  brave  garrison,  finding  no  kind  of  shelter, 
were  ordered  to  evacuate  the  place,  which  they  did  about 
two  o'clock  in  the  morning,  having  first  burnt  the  bar- 
racks and  brought  off  the  stores.  We  exceedingly  wish 
the  enemy  to  come  out  and  give  us  battle  ;  but  I  believe 
that  though  this  is  an  event  they  threaten,  and  we  wish, 
it  will  not  happen." 

Whether  Fort  Mercer  could  be  sustained  was  now  the 
question.  As  soon  as  Washington  learned  the  loss  of 
Fort  Mifflin,  St.  Clair,  Knox  and  De  Kalb  were  directed 
to  inspect  Fort  Mercer.  On  their  report,  a  reinforcement 
under  General  Greene  was  ordered  to  cross  to  its  vicinity. 
Cornwallis  having  also  crossed  the  Delaware,  Greene  was 
urged  to  advance  and  meet  him,  and  to  use  every  means 
to  hasten  the  junction  of  Glover's  brigade.  The  march 
of  the  enemy  was  so  rapid,  the  Americans  could  not  form 
a  junction  in  time  to  succor  the  garrison.  It  was  obliged 
to  withdraw.* 

Duplessis  again  exhibited  to  the  latest  moment  the  high 
courage  of  his  blood.f  In  a  letter  written  by  Hamilton, 
for  Washington,  asking  his  promotion,  it  is  stated  :  "  After 
the  evacuation  was  determined  upon,  he  undertook  as  a 

*  Washington's  Writings,  v.  167. 

f  The  Huguenot  chief,  Mornay  du  Plessis,  of  whose  praise  the  French  his- 
torians are  full,  was  his  ancestor.  Voltaire  took  pleasure  in  devoting  to  him 
the  choicest  effort  of  his  genius,  and  he  is  thus  beautifully  eulogized  by  Gro- 
tius: 

"  Nobilitas,  animo  claro  quain  sanguine  major 
Res  hominum  solers  noscere,  usque  Dei 
Consilinm  prndens,  dives  facundia  linguae 
Hie  cum  Morneo,  contutnulata  jacent." 

This  young  friend  of  Hamilton  was  nriswcrel  at  St.  Domingo. 


JET.  20.]  HAMILTON.  363 

volunteer,  the  hazardous  operation  of  blowing  up  the 
magazine  without  the  apparatus  usual  on  such  occasions. 
I  must  further  add,  that  he  possesses  a  degree  of  modesty 
not  always  found  in  men  who  perform  brilliant  actions. 
It  is  with  pleasure  that  I  recommend  to  Congress  to  give 
him  a  brevet  of  lieutenant-colonel.  I  hope  there  will  be 
no  difficulty  in  antedating  the  brevet,  that  the  recompense 
may  more  immediately  follow  the  service  he  has  done." 

The  river  thus  opened  to  the  fleet,  Howe  was  enabled 
to  hold  Philadelphia,  "  though  just  before  the  reduction  of 
the  forts  he  balanced  upon  the  point  of  quitting  that 
city."  Fort  Mercer  was  abandoned  on  the  twentieth  of 
November,  two  days  after  the  most  advanced  of  the  brig- 
ades from  Albany  reached  head-quarters.  Washington 
immediately  convened  a  council  of  war  to  decide  as  to 
an  attack  upon  Howe.  It  was  disapproved,  the  force  and 
cover  of  the  enemy*  not  justifying  the  attempt. 

Cornwallis  having  rejoined  him,  Howe,  strengthened 
also  by  reinforcements  from  New  York,  resolved  to  move 
upon  the  Americans.  On  the  fourth  of  December  his 
army  advanced  to  Chesnut  Hill.  Skirmishes  ensued,  and 
various  manoeuvres  followed  to  draw  the  Americans  from 
their  post. 

Washington,  nevertheless,  held  his  position  on  several 
commanding  heights.  Anticipating  and  desiring  f  an  at- 
tack where  he  was,  he  rode  through  every  brigade  of  his 
army,  delivering  in  person  his  orders ;  exhorting  his 
troops  to  rely  chiefly  on  the  bayonet,  and  encouraging 
them  to  their  duty.J  Howe  seeing  the  firm  countenance 

'The  enemy  have  fortified  themselves  with  fourteen  strong  redoubts, 
friezed  and  palisaded  with  strong  abatis,  running  from  one  redoubt  to  the 
other." — Knox  to  Lamb. 

t  "I  sincerely  wish  they  had  made  an  attack." — Washington's  Writings,  v. 
182.  $  Marshall,  i.  184,  who  "states  it  on  his  own  observation." 


331  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

of  his  adversary,  abandoned  his  purpose,  and  suddenly 
retreated  within  his  lines.  Winter  was  now  upon  them,* 
and  the  campaign  ended. 

"  Had  the  reinforcement  from  the  northward,"  Wash- 
ington wrote  to  his  brother,  "  arrived  but  ten  days  sooner, 
it  would,  I  think,  have  put  it  in  my  power  to  save  Fort 
Mifflin,  which  defended  the  chevaux  de  frise,  and  conse- 
quently have  rendered  Philadelphia  a  very  ineligible  situ- 
ation for  them  this  winter."  Such  were  the  quiet  terms 
in  which  he  adverted  to  the  great  wrong  inflicted  upon  his 
country  and  upon  himself  by  Gates  and  Putnam. 

*Dec.  8. 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

THE  capture  of  General  Lee  had  removed  him  from  the 
stage.  Faction  now  beheld  in  Gates  a  ready  instrument 
of  its  designs. 

He  was  of  humble  origin,  the  offspring  "  of  a  second 
chambermaid"  of  a  Walpole.  His  putative  father  was 
"  a  journeyman  tailor,"  and  the  young  Horatio,  "godson 
of  Horace  Walpole,"  *  was  ushered  into  life  under  the 
auspices  of  nobility.  He  received  the  commission  of  en- 
sign in  the  British  army,  became  an  aide  of  General 
Monckton,  and  was  selected  as  bearer  of  the  despatches 
announcing  the  capture  of  Martinique.  His  next  appear- 
ance was  as  captain  of  an  independent  company  of  New 
York  troops  under  Braddock,  when  he  received  a  wound. 
At  the  close  of  this  disastrous  campaign,  he  repaired  to 
his  native  England,  and  after  a  short  absence  returned  to 
America  and  took  up  his  abode  in  the  interior  of  Virginia. 
At  the  opening  of  the  revolution  and  at  the  instance  of 
Washington,  glad  to  avail  himself  of  his  military  expe- 
rience, he  is  seen  to  have  been  appointed  adjutant-general 
with  the  rank  of  brigadier,  and  early  in  seventy-six  was 
promoted  to  the  grade  of  major-genera'. 

This  promotion  gave  offence.     John  Adams  excused 

*  Walpole's  Letters,  iv.  220,  thus  italicised  in  the  letter. 


366  THE   KEPUBLIC.  [1777. 

it  to  Heath  on  the  score  of  his  merit :  "  Congress  has  not 
determined  to  have  no  regard  to  the  line  of  succession  in 
promotions,  but  only  that  this  line  shall  not  be  an  invaria- 
ble rule,  but  they  mean  to  reserve  a  right  of  distinguish- 
ing extraordinary  merit  or  demerit.  *  *  *  It  is  my 
opinion  he  would  have  been  made  a  major-general  much 
sooner,  if  his  experience  had  not  been  thought  indispensa- 
ble in  the  adjutant-general's  department."  * 

This  impression  of  his  extraordinary  merit,  without 
any  previous  act  to  warrant  it,  prompted  caresses  he  little 
deserved,  of  most  pernicious  influence  upon  a  character 
too  susceptible  to  flattery. 

His  invidious  and  querulous  temper  is  seen  throughout 
his  career.  "  What,"  he  wrote  to  Putnam  on  the  eve  of 
the  battle  of  Long  Island,  "  what  have  you,  and  what 
have  you  not  done  ?  Sense,  courage,  honor  and  abilities, 
you  know  to  be  the  great  outlines  of  a  general.  My 
friend  Tom  Mifflin  has  an  uncommon  share  of  all  four. 
Present  my  affectionate  compliments  to  him."  His  com- 
plaisant countryman  Gordon  writes  to  him  at  this  time  : 
"  I  learn  that  the  week  before  last  our  friends  at  New 
York  were  in  much  the  same  state  as  at  the  beginning  of 
last  January.  If  our  dilatoriness  does  not  ruin  us,  w^ 
shall  be  indebted  to  a  special  providence." 

Thus,  between  jeers  upon  Washington  and  commenda- 
tions of  himself,  Gates  only  wanted  the  lights  of  fortune 
to  exhibit  his  weakness. 

The  successes  of  the  northern  army  were  rewarded 
by  Congress  with  the  honors  that  were  their  due.  A 
proclamation  for  a  national  thanksgiving  was  issued. 
This  was  followed  by  a  vote  of  thanks  to  Gates,  Lincoln 
and  Arnold,  and  to  the  officers  and  troops  under  their 
command.  A  gold  medal  was  also  ordered  in  commem- 

*  J.  Adams  to  Heath,  Aug.  3,  1776. 


jET.  20.]  HAMILTON. 

oration  of  this  great  event,  to  be  presented  in  the  name 
of  the  United  States  to  Gates.  Nor  were  Massachusetts 
or  Connecticut  content  with  this  tribute  of  the  whole 
people.  Each  ordered  a  special  day  of  religious  re- 
joicing. 

Gates  now  loomed  largely  in  the  public  eye.  The 
prudential  energy  of  Schuyler,  the  enterprise,  the  skill, 
the  consummate  prudence  of  Washington  and  Greene, 
their  superintending  care — all  seemed  to  fade  or  be  for- 
gotten amid  the  blazon  of  his  glory.  On  a  public  occa- 
sion in  Massachusetts  his  health  was  drank  before  that  of 
Washington,  and  her  jealousy  of  military  power  was  so 
far,  for  the  moment,  suppressed,  that  she  authorized  him 
to  fill  up  all  the  commissions  that  might  be  vacant  in  the 
regiments  of  that  State. 

Lovell,  chairman  of  the  committee  of  foreign  affairs, 
at  first  a  schoolmaster  in  Boston,  writes  from  Yorktown : 
"  In  truth,  if  you  would  give  Burgoyne  a  little  leisure  to 
exercise  his  talent  at  farce  writing,  which  he  discovered 
in  'the  Boston  blockade,'  he  would  furnish  the  world  with 
a  winter  evening's  entertainment  at  the  expense  of  Con- 
gress, at  least,  if  not  of  Congress  and  General  Washing- 
ton. Your  army  and  the  eastern  militia  are  now  strongly 
contrasted  with  those  in  the  Middle  States,  even  by  the 
inhabitants  of  Philadelphia.  It  is  said  Howe  would  not 
have  passed  more  than  seventy  miles  from  the  ships  which 
landed  him,  in  his  whole  skin,  in  your  neighborhood  or 
among  Yankee  stonewalls.  Our  (hope)*  springs  all  from 
the  northward,  and  almost  all  our  confidence.  By  the 
winter,  the  middle  army  will  be  divided  into  Greenites 
and  Mifflinians,  if  things  do  not  take  a  great  turn  from 
their  present  situation.  Verily  our  salvation  must  come 
from  far." 

*  Illegible  in  the  original. 


368  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

On  the  day  of  Hamilton's  mission  to  Gates,  Colonel 
Reed,  Washington'?  former  aide-de-carnp,  also  wrote  to 
the  successful  general :  "  I  have  for  some  time  volunteered 
it  with  this  army,  which,  notwithstanding  the  labors  and 
efforts  of  our  amiable  chief,  has  yet  gathered  no  laurels. 
Howe's  army  is  much  stronger  than  we  once  apprehended, 
and  repeated  checks  have  taken  off  that  ardor  of  emula- 
tion which  leads  to  success.  I  have  been  so  unlucky  as 
to  differ  in  opinion  too  generally  with  those  who  conduct 
our  operations,  but  I  perfectly  agree  with  them  in  that 
sentiment  which  leads  to  request  your  assistance." 

Lovell  again  wrote :  "  You  have  saved  our  northern 
hemisphere.  In  spite  of  our  consummate  and  repeated 
blundering,  you  have  changed  the  constitution  of  the 
southern  campaign  of  the  enemy  from  offensive  to  defen- 
sive. If  you  had  remained  with  this  army  we  might  have 
opposed,  but  could  not  have  counteracted  the  deep-rooted 
system  of  favoritism  which  began  to  shoot  forth  at  New 
York,  and  which  now  has  arrived  at  its  full  growth  and 
maturity.  Repeated  slights  and  unjustifiable  arrogance 
combined  with  other  causes  to  drive  from  the  army  those 
who  would  not  worship  the  image,  and  pay  an  undeserved 
tribute  of  praise  and  flattery  to  the  great  and  powerful. 
The  list  of  our  disgusted  patriots  is  long  and  formidable  ; 
their  resentments  keen  against  the  reigning  cabal ;  and 
their  powers  of  opposition  not  despicable.  The  cam- 
paign here  must  soon  close.  If  no  brilliant  action  takes 
place  before  it  ends,  if  our  troops  are  obliged  to  retire  to 
Lancaster,  Reading,  Bethlehem,  &c.,  for  winter  quarters, 
and  the  country  below  is  left  open  to  the  enemy's  flying 
parties,  great  and  very  general  will  be  the  murmur.  So 
great  and  so  general,  that  nothing  inferior  to  a  com- 
mander-in-chief  will  be  able  to  resist  the  mighty  torrent 
of  public  clamor  and  public  vengeance.  We  have  had  a 


^ET.  20.]  HAMILTON.  3(59 

noble  army  melted  down  by  ill-judged  marches — marches 
that  disgrace  their  authors  and  directors,  and  which  have 
occasioned  the  severest  and  most  just  sarcasm  and  con- 
tempt of  our  enemies.  How  much  are  you  to  be  envied, 
my  dear  general !  How  different  your  conduct  and  your 
fortune ! 

"  A  letter  from  Colonel  Mifflin,  received  since  the 
writing  of  the  last  paragraph,  gives  me  the  disagreeable 
intelligence  of  the  loss  of  our  fort  in  Delaware.  You 
must  know  the  consequences.  Loss  of  the  river,  boats, 
galleys,  ships-of-war  &c.,  good  winter  quarters  to  the 
enemy,  and  a  general  retreat,  or  an  ill-judged,  blind  at- 
tempt on  our  part  to  save  a  gone  character. 

"  Conway,  Spotswood,  Conner,  Ross,  Col.  J.  Mifflin  re- 
signed ;  and  many  good  officers  preparing  their  letters  to 
Congress  on  the  same  subject.  In  short,this  army  will  be 
totally  lost  unless  you  come  down  and  collect  the  virtuous 
band  who  wish  to  fight  under  your  banner,  and  with  their 
aid  save  the  southern  hemisphere.  Prepare  yourself  for 
a  jaunt  to  this  place.  Congress  must  send  for  you.  I 
have  a  thousand  things  to  tell  you." 

Weak  and  vain-glorious,  Gates  had  precisely  those 
traits  of  character  which  would  recommend  him  to  the 
designing,  without  having  the  penetration  to  discover  that 
he  was  a  tool.  Presumptuous  and  irresolute,  he  engaged 
in  intrigues  that  he  had  not  the  sagacity  to  direct,  and 
sought  responsibilities  which  he  had  not  the  firmness  to 
sustain. 

Immediately  after  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne,  Colonel 
Morgan  waited  upon  Gates  for  orders.  He  led  him  aside 
and  told  him,  confidentially,  that  the  main  army  was  ex 
tremely  dissatisfied  with  the  conduct  of  the  war  by  the 
commander-in-chief ;  and  that  several  of  the  best  officers 
threatened  to  resign  unless  a  change  took  place.  The 
VOL.  I.— 24 


370  T1IE    KEPUBLIC.  [1777. 

plain  teamster,  Morgan,  sternly  replied,  "  I  have  one  favor 
to  ask  of  you,  that  is,  never  to  mention  this  detestable 
subject  to  me  again,  for  under  no  other  man  than  Wash- 
ington as  commander-in-chief  will  I  ever  serve."  Gates 
punished  the  offence  by  a  mere  cursory  notice  in  his  des- 
patches of  this  gallant  officer,  to  whom  he  was  so  much 
indebted,  and  treated  him  with  marked  reserve.*  Arnold 
was  not  less  unfairly  dealt  with.  He  was  the  object  of 
his  jealous  hate. 

Gates  also  sought  to  win  the  favor  of  Governor  Clin- 
ton, of  too  much  practical  sense  to  be  thus  ensnared. 
In  his  notion  of  assembling  at  Morristown  the  forces 
detached  from  himself,  he  proposed  to  him  their  com- 
mand.f 

The  arrests  of  several  officers  for  misconduct,  and  the 
well-grounded  dissatisfaction  of  other  officers  with  the 
fickle  policy  of  Congress,  prepared  the  army  for  improper 
influences. 

From  its  many  heads  the  faction  which  had  formed 
was  called  "  The  Monster  Party,"  the  busiest  of  whom 
were  Conway  and  Mifflin. 

The  former,  appearing  before  Congress,  a  penniless 
colonel  in  the  French  service,  decorated  with  the  cross  of 
the  order  of  St.  Louis,  a  vain,  weak  intriguer,  had  been 
in  the  preceding  spring  appointed  to  the  command  of  a 
brigade. 

A  few  days  after  the  action  at  Germantown,  a  rumor 
reached  Washington  that  he  either  had  been,  or  was  about 
to  be  chosen  major-general.  This  rumor  probably  arose 
from  a  proposition  in  Congress,  founded  upon  a  letter 
from  Conway  asking  promotion,  to  direct  an  inquiry  to  be 
made  by  Washington  as  to  the  priority  of  rank  in  France 

*  Lee's  Southern  War.     Graham's  "  Life  of  Morgan. " 
f  Corresp.  Rev.,  ii.  548. 


•,ET.  20.]  HAMILTON.  37] 

between  De  Kalb  and  Conway.  It  was  defeated  by  the 
vote  of  seven  of  the  eleven  States  present,  all  the  mem- 
bers from  New  England  opposing  it.  Washington  wrote 
to  Richard  Henry  Lee  in  Congress  :  "  It  will  be  as  unfor- 
tunate a  measure  as  ever  was  adopted.  I  may  add,  and 
I  think  with  truth,  that  it  will  give  a  fatal  blow  to  the  ex- 
istence of  this  army.  General  Con  way's  merit  as  an 
officer,  and  his  importance  in  this  army,  exist  more  in  his 
own  imagination  than  in  reality.  For  it  is  a  maxim  with 
him,  to  leave  no  service  of  his  own  untold,  nor  to  want 
any  thing  which  is  to  be  obtained  by  importunity."  He 
then  stated  his  conviction,  that  if  this  promotion  were 
made,  the  brigadiers  "  would  not  serve  under  him."  "  I 
must  conjure  you  to  conjure  Congress  to  consider  this 
matter  well,  and  not  by  a  real  act  of  injustice  compel 
some  good  officers  to  leave  the  service,  and  thereby  incur 
a  train  of  evils  unforeseen  and  irremediable."  He  dis- 
claimed any  prejudice  against  him. 

Notwithstanding  his  many  advocates,  when  the  de- 
cided opposition  of  the  commander-in-chief  was  known, 
a  pause  was  seen.  Conway  felt  the  influence  which  had 
been  exerted.  He  resolved  to  undermine  it,  and  to  culti- 
vate the  favor  of  Gates  in  the  first  tide  of  his  rising  for- 
tunes. He  wrote  him,  mingling  censures  of  Washington 
with  adulations  to  himself:  "  Heaven  has  been  determined 
to  save  your  country,  or  a  weak  general  and  bad  counsel- 
lors would  have  ruined  it."  This  marked  passage  had 
been  seen  by  Wilkinson,  adjutant-general  of  Gates,  and 
by  him,  while  on  his  tardy  way  to  Congress  with  des- 
patches, was  disclosed  to  an  aide-de-camp  of  Lord  Stir- 
ling, who  communicated  it  to  Washington.  He  enclosed 
a  copy  of  it  to  Conway  without  comment.  A  week  after, 
Conway  announced  to  the  commander-in-chief  that  he 
had  sent  in  his  resignation.  The  reply  was,  when  the 


372  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1777 

consent  of  Congress  is  obtained,"!  shall  not  object  to 
your  departure  since  it  is  your  inclination." 

In  the  mean  time,  the  proceedings  of  that  body  indi- 
cate the  policy  beginning. to  prevail.  The  terms  of  ca- 
pitulation granted  to  Burgoyne  had  caused  such  dissatis- 
faction that  an  apology  was  offered  ;  "The  reduction  of 
Fort  Montgomery,  and  the  enemy's  progress  up  the  river 
endangered  the  arsenal  at  Albany,  a  reflection  which  left 
him  no  time  to  test  the  capitulation."  Obviously  futile  as 
the  excuse  was,  "these  terms  were  pronounced  honorable 
and  advantageous  to  the  States." 

The  public  discontent  was  not  stifled.  The  committee 
of  safety  of  New  York  addressed  Congress  with  earnest 
censure ;  and  it  became  necessary  to  bring  the  subject 
again  under  consideration.  The  committee  to  whom  it 
was  referred  made  a  report;  but  upon  an  allegation  that 
more  time  was  necessary  to  obtain  a  knowledge  of  the 
facts,  its  consideration  was  postponed,  but  not  without  a 
wide  division  of  opinion.*  This  subject  was  frequently 
resumed,  when  motions  of  inquiry  and  for  obtaining  in- 
formation were  defeated.  Yet  such  was  the  dissatisfac- 
tion of  subsequent  Congresses  with  this  capitulation,  that 
the  obligations  of  good  faith  were  never  fulfilled. 

Immediately  after  Hamilton  had  departed  on  his  mis- 
sion to  Gates  to  expedite  reinforcements,  some  pregnant 
resolutions  were  passed,  founded  on  the  report  of  a  com- 
mittee, of  which  Richard  Henry  Lee  was  chairman. f 
They  resolved  that,  "  General  Washington  be  informed, 
that  it  is  the  earnest  wish  of  Congress  to  regain  the  pos- 
session of  the  forts  and  passes  of  the  Hudson  River,"  and, 

*  Nov.  8  Affirmative — Folsom,  Gerry,  Law,  Williams,  Duane,  Dner,  El- 
mer, Smith,  Harvie,  Perrin,  Harnett — 11.  Negative — Samuel  Adams,  John 
Adams,  LoVell,  Marchant,  Dyer,  Roberdeau,  Clingan,  Jones,  F.  L.  Lee,  Lau- 
rens — 10.  f  Nov.  5. 


yE-r.  20.]  HAMILTON.  373 

for  that  purpose,  that  General  Gates  should  remain  in 
command  in  that  quarter,  and  that  Putnam  join  the  main 
army  with  such  detachment  from  the  army  under  Gates,  as 
General  Washington  may  think  can  be  spared,  not  exceed- 
ing twenty-five  hundred  men,  including  Morgan's  corps. 

Gates  was  ordered  to  make  a  proper  disposition  of  the 
army  for  reducing  the  posts  on  the  Hudson.  Authority 
was  given  to  him  to  order  such  of  the  continental  troops 
and  militia  as  were  posted  neai  to  join  him,  and  also  to 
call  on  the  several  States  for  such  numbers  of  militia  as 
he  should  judge  necessary  to  maintain  those  posts,  "  to  the 
end  that  his  army  may  be  in  readiness  to  pursue  such 
operations  as  Congress  shall  direct."  Further  authority 
was  granted  him,  to  call  for  all  "  the  aids  he  should  judge 
necessary  for  the  reduction  of  Ticonderoga  and  Fort  In- 
dependence at  such  time  as  he  should  deem  best  adapted 
tor  that  expedition." 

A  resolution  was  added,  probably  as  an  amendment, 
that  "if  General  Washington,  after  consulting  General 
Gates  and  Governor  Clinton,  shall  be  of  opinion  that  a 
larger  reinforcement  can  be  detached  to  the  main  army, 
consistent  with  the  attainment  of  the  objects"  committed 
to  Gates,  "  in  such  case  he  be  directed  to  order  such  far- 
ther reinforcements  to  the  main  army  as  may  be  thought 
conducive  to  the  general  welfare,  any  thing  in  the  pre- 
ceding resolution  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding." 

In  debating  this  resolution  it  was  moved,  after  "  di- 
rected," to  insert  "with  their  concurrence."  This  amend- 
ment was  negatived  by  every  State  except  Massachusetts, 
which  was  divided,  and  by  one  vote  from  Rhode  Island,* 
and  the  resolution  was  carried  by  a  vote  of  eighteen  to 

five  members.! 

, 

*  Samuel  Adams,  John  Adams,  Gerry,  Marchant,  Dyer. 
\  Negs. — S.  Adams,  Gerry,  Murchant,  Dyer,  Roberdeau. 


374  THE   REPUBLIC.  fi777. 

The  obvious  effect  of  this  procedure  would  have  been 
to  take  from  Washington  the  supreme  command,  and  to 
render  his  success  and  safety  dependent  upon  the  ap- 
proval of  a  rival ;  limiting  the  succors  he  was  to  receive 
so  low  as  to  ensure  the  necessity  of  his  inactivity,  while 
Gates,  with  new  trophies,  should  stand  unrivalled  in  the 
public  favor.  The  cabal  were  attempting  to  play  the 
game  in  which  Lee  had  failed  a  twelvemonth  before. 

While  her  representation  in  Congress  sustained  Wash- 
ington, Pennsylvania,  to  a  great  degree,  appeared  to  coin- 
cide with  Massachusetts.  She  felt  his  reproaches  of  her 
feeble  aids,  and  resented  in  his  person,  the  possession  of 
her  capital  by  the  enemy. 

These  feelings  found  an  active  partisan  in  General 
Mifflin,  a  native  of  this  State,  of  great  personal  popular- 
ity and  extensive  influence.  Shrewd,  bland,  eloquent, 
he  spoke  with  effect  to  the  patriotic  feeling,  and  still  re- 
tained some  hold  upon  the  Quakers,  in  whose  tenets  he 
had  been  educated.*  Early  chosen  an  aide-de-camp  to 
Washington,  he  retired  from  his  staff  retaining  his  favor, 
and  was  appointed  by  him  quarter-master  general. 

This  station  he  accepted,  then  resigned  to  take  his 
place  in  the  line,  where  he  served  with  credit  a  short  time, 
when,  at  the  instance  of  Congress,  he  resumed  it.  Ere 
long  he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  major-general. 
The  distresses  of  the  army  during  his  administration  of  the 
quarter-master-general's  department  led  to  an  investiga- 
tion by  Congress.  Their  report  urged  that  "  not  a  mo- 
ment's time  be  lost  in  placing  a  man  of  approved  abilities 
and  extensive  capacity  at  the  head  of  the  department, 

*  Chastellnx  states,  i.  181 :  "  He  is  a  smart,  sensible,  active,  and  agreea- 
ble little  man.  I  never  saw  him  without  thinking  of  Garrick.  He  is  about 
the  same  size  and  figure,  and  his  countenance  sparkles  with  significance  and 
expression." 


J3T.  20.]  HAMILTON.  375 

who  will  restore  it  to  some  degree  of  order  and  regularity, 
whose  provident  care  will  immediately  relieve  the  wants 
of  the  army,  and  extend  itself  to  those  which  must  be 
satisfied  before  we  can  expect  vigor,  enterprise  and  suc- 
cess." 

Such  censure,  the  frequent  and  unavoidable  com- 
plaints of  Washington,  and  his  earnest  desire  to  place 
Greene  at  the  head  of  this  department,  between  whom 
and  Mifflin  unkind  feelings  existed,  irritated  his  mind,  and 
made  him  an  avowed  enemy  of  the  commander-in-chief. 
His  ear,  he  alleged,  was  exclusively  possessed  by  Greene. 
His  campaign  was  a  series  of  blunders.  His  incapacity 
was  obvious.  The  better  fortune  of  the  northern  army 
was  ascribed  to  the  superior  talent  of  its  leader.  Gates 
was  the  man  who  should  of  right  have  the  station  so  in- 
competently filled  by  Washington.* 

Mifflin,  smarting  under  their  censure,  asked  leave  of 
Congress  to  resign  his  commission  in  the  line  and  in  the 
staff,  pleading  ill  health.  Compelled  by  the  force  of  pub- 
lic opinion,  Congress  accepted  his  resignation  as  quarter- 
master-general, but  resolved  that  his  commission  in  the 
line  be  retained,  though  without  pay,  until  further  order. 
Yet  on  the  same  day,  such  were  the  dominant  influences 
in  the  selection  of  a  new  Board  of  War,  Mifflin  was 
placed  at  its  head.  The  inefficiency  of  the  former  board 
had  induced  Congress  to  determine  that  a  Board  of  War, 
to  act  under  the  superintendence  of  the  existing  board, 
should  be  constituted  of  three  persons,  not  members  of 
their  body. 

To  render  the  selection  less  publicly  offensive,  Colo- 
nels Pickering  and  Harrison,  the  secretary  of  Washing- 
ton, were  associated  with  Mifflin.  Harrison  declined  the 
appointment.  The  Congressional  board  soon  after  fre- 

*  Graydon's  Memoirs,  299.  t  Nov-  24' 


376  THE   REPUBLIC.  [17T7. 

ported,  that,  after  a  conference  with  General  Mifflin,  they 
were  of  opinion  "  that  a  sufficient  number  of  commission- 
ers had  not  been  appointed  in  order  to  give  due  weight  to 
the  regulations  which  might  be  recommended  by  the 
board  and  adopted  by  Congress,  and  particularly  for  ena- 
bling one  of  the  board  to  visit,  from  time  to  time,  the  dif- 
ferent armies,  in  order  to  see  that  these  regulations  were 
executed,  and  to  examine  what  the  wants  of  the  army 
were,  and  what  defects  or  abuses  prevail,  from  time  to 
time,  in  the  different  departments." 

Upon  this  report  it  was  resolved,  that  two  additional 
commissioners  be  appointed ;  and  on  the  twenty-seventh 
of  November  three  commissioners  were  elected,  General 
Gates,  Joseph  Trumbull,  entirely  in  his  interest,  and 
Richard  Peters.  Thus  a  majority  was  secured  to  Gates. 
A  resolution  was  also  passed,  that  the  President  of  Con- 
gress inform  General  Gates  of  his  appointment,  express- 
ing "  the  high  sense  they  entertain  of  his  abilities  and  pe- 
culiar fitness  to  discharge  the  duties  of  that  important 
office,  upon  the  right  execution  of  which  the  success  of 
the  American  cause  does  eminently  depend — that  it  is  the 
intention  of  Congress  to  continue  his  rank  as  major-gen- 
eral ;  and  that  he  may  officiate  at  the  board  or  in  the 
field,  as  occasion  may  require ;  and  that  he  be  requested 
to  repair  to  Congress  with  all  convenient  dispatch,  to  en- 
ter upon  the  duties  of  his  appointment." 

Lovell  instantly  wrote  him  :  "  We  want  you  in  differ- 
ent places,  but  most  of  all  in  a  third  which  you  are  not 
called  to  balance  about.  We  want  you  most,  near  Ger- 
mantown.  Good  God !  What  a  situation  are  we  in !  How 
different  from  what  might  have  been  justly  expected! 
You  will  be  astonished  when  you  come  to  know  accu- 
rately what  numbers  have,  at  one  time  and  another,  been 
collected  near  Philadelphia  to  wear  out  stockings,  shoes 


.Ex.  20.]  HAMILTON. 

and  breeches.  Depend  upon  it,  for  every  ten  soldiers 
placed  under  the  command  of  our  Fabius,  five  recruits 
will  be  wanted  annually  during  the  war.  The  brave  fel- 
lows at  Fort  Mifflin  and  Red  Bank  have  despaired  of  suc- 
cor and  been  obliged  to  quit.  The  naval  department  have 
fallen  into  circumstances  of  seeming  disgrace.  Come  to 
the  Board  of  War,  if  only  for  a  short  season.  *  *  *  * 
If  it  was  not  for  the  defeat  of  Burgoyne,  and  the  strong 
appearances  of  an  European  war,  our  affairs  are  Fabiussed 
into  a  very  disagreeable  posture.  Conway  has  resigned, 
and  many  spirited  officers  by  an  overbalance  of  *  *  * 
*  *  *  *  counsellors." 

The  following  day,  the  President  of  Congress,  Henry 
Laurens,  announced  to  Gates  his  election  to  preside  at  the 
Board  of  War  ;  and  Mifflin  communicated  to  him  pri- 
vately the  recent  exposure  of  Conway.  "  An  extract," 
he  wrote,  f  "  from  General  Conway's  letter  to  you  has 
been  procured  and  sent  to  head-quarters.  The  extract 
was  a  collection  of  just  sentiments,  yet  such  as  should  not 
have  been  entrusted  to  any  of  your  family.  General 
Washington  enclosed  it  to  Conway  without  remarks.  It 
was  supported,  and  the  freedom  of  the  sentiment  not 
apologized  for.  On  the  contrary,  although  some  reflec- 
tions were  made  on  some  people,  yet  the  practice  was 
pleaded  boldly  and  no  satisfaction  given.  My  dear  gen- 
eral, take  care  of  your  generosity  and  frank  disposition. 
They  cannot  injure  yourself,  but  they  may  injure  some 
of  your  best  friends.  Affectionately  yours." 

Gates  writhed  under  this  intelligence.  Remote,  ex- 
posed, uncertain  to  what  extent  his  letters  had  been 
divulged,  he  had  no  means  of  learning  how  far  he  was 
commuted,  nor  by  whom.  His  only  resource  was  to 
write  for  information.  Conway  was  first  addressed  in  a 

*  Obscured  in  the  original.  f  Nov.  28. 


.378  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

letter  expressing  regret  at  his  resignation,  and  casting 
censures  upon  Washington.  The  purpose  was  reserved 
for  the  postscript :  "  I  entreat  you,  dear  general,  to  let  me 
know  which  of  the  letters  was  copied  off.  It  is  of  the 
greatest  importance  that  I  should  detect  the  person,  who 
has  been  guilty  of  that  act  of  infidelity."  The  next  day 
Mifflin  was  informed  of  his  "inexpressible  distress." 
"  Though  to  this  moment  I  have  been  ruminating  who  could 
be  the  villain  that  has  played  me  this  treacherous  trick, 
yet  I  can  find  no  clue  to  a  discovery.  There  is  scarcely  a 
man  living  who  takes  greater  care  of  his  papers  than  I 
do.  I  never  fail  to  lock  them  up  and  keep  the  key  in  my 
pocket.  No  punishment  is  too  severe  for  the  wretch  who 
betrayed  me  ;  and  I  doubt  not  your  friendship  for  me 
as  well  as  your  zeal  for  our  safety  will  bring  the  name  of 
the  miscreant  to  public  light." 

After  four  days  of  tribulation,  he  dispatched  a  letter 
to  Washington,  thinking  to  fix  on  him  the  imputation  of 
having  by  indirect  means  obtained  access  to  his  confi- 
dential correspondence. 

Relying  upon  his  present  popularity,  he  hoped  to  make 
Congress  a  party  to  his  cause.  With  this  view,  he  enclosed 
a  copy  of  this  letter  to  them,  calling  for  their  aid  in  this 
scrutiny.  "  I  cannot,"  he  wrote,  "  believe  that  the  traitor- 
ous thief  will  long  escape  detection,  after  the  patriotism 
of  the  delegates  shall  have  been  alarmed." 

His  letter  to  Washington  was  in  these  extraordinary 
terms : 

"  SIR, — I  shall  not  attempt  to  describe  what,  as  a  pri- 
vate gentleman,  I  cannot  help  feeling,  on  representing  to 
my  mind  the  disagreeable  situation  in  which  confidential 
letters,  when  exposed  to  public  inspection,  may  place  an 
unsuspecting  correspondent ;  but  as  a  public  officer,  I 
conjure  your  excellency  to  give  m?  all  the  assistance  you 


;ET.  20.]  HAMILTON.  379 

can,  in  tracing  out.  the  author  of  the  infidelity  which  put 
extracts  from  General  Conway's  letters  to  me  into  your 
hands. 

Those  letters  have  been  stealingly  copied,  but  which 
of  them,  when,  and  by  whom,  is  to  me  yet  an  unfathom- 
able secret. 

There  is  not  one  officer  in  my  suite,  nor  amongst  those 
who  have  free  access  to  me,  upon  whom  I  could,  with  the 
least  justification  to  myself,  fix  the  suspicion,  and  yet  my 
uneasiness  may  deprive  me  of  the  usefulness  of  the  wor- 
thiest men.  It  is,  /  believe,  in  your  excellency's  power  to 
do  me  and  the  United  States  a  very  important  service  by 
detecting  a  wretch  who  may  betray  me,  and  capitally  in- 
jure the  very  operations  under  your  immediate  directions. 
For  this  reason,  sir,  I  beg  your  excellency  will  favor  me 
with  the  proof  you  can  procure  to  that  effect.  But  the 
crime  being  eventually  so  important,  that  the  least  loss  of 
time  may  be  attended  with  the  worst  consequences,  and 
it  being  unknown  to  me  whether  the  letter  came  to  you 
from  a  member  of  Congress  or  an  officer,  I  shall  have  the 
honor  of  transmitting  a  copy  of  this  to  the  president,  that 
the  Congress  may,  in  concert  with  your  excellency,  obtain 
as  soon  as  possible  a  discovery  which  so  deeply  affects  the 
safety  of  the  States.  Crimes  of  that  magnitude  ought  not 
to  remain  unpunished.  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with  the 
greatest  respect, — " 

The  cabal  had  in  the  interval  pursued  their  object. 
The  Board  of  War,  to  whom  two  letters  of  Conway  were 
referred,  presented  a  report,  "  that  it  was  essential  to  the 
promotion  of  discipline  in  the  American  army,  and  to  the 
reformation  of  the  various  abuses  which  prevail  in  the 
different  departments,  that  an  appointment  be  made  of 
INSPECTOR-GENERAL,  agreeable  to  the  practice  of  the  best 
disciplined  armies  of  Europe,"  and  that  this  appointment 


380  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1777. 

be  conferred  "  on  experienced  and  vigilant  general  officers, 
who  are  acquainted  with  whatever  relates  to  the  general 
economy,  manoeuvres,  and  discipline,  of  a  well  regulated 
army." 

Powers  were  conferred  upon  this  office,  in  effect  para- 
mount to  those  of  the  commander-in-chief.  It  was  re- 
solved, that  two  inspectors-general  should  be  appointed, 
and,  in  despite  of  Washington's  earnest  remonstrance, 
and  in  disregard  of  his  recent  resignation,  Conway  was 
elected  *  inspector-general,  and  also  appointed  a  major- 
general. 

Though  he  had  attained  the  object  of  his  ambition,  yet, 
knowing  the  influence  of  Washington  over  the  public 
mind,  and  aware  of  the  dissatisfaction  his  promotion  had 
excited  in  the  army,  he  felt  it  would  be  a  great  object  to 
obtain  his  sanction. 

He  wrote  to  the  commander-in-chief,  proposing  to 
enter  immediately  upon  the  performance  of  his  duties, 
asking  his  views  as  to  the  mode  of  executing  them.  He 
then  stated  that  he  "  accepted  the  office  of  inspector-gen- 
eral with  the  view  of  being  instrumental  to  the  welfare  of 
the  cause  and  to  the  glory  of  the  commander-in-chief,  in 
making  his  troops  fit  to  execute  his  orders.  The  rank  of 
major-general,  which  was  given  me,  is  absolutely  requi- 
site for  this  office,  in  order  to  be  vested  with  proper  au- 
thority to  superintend  the  instruction  and  the  internal  ad- 
ministration. There  is  no  inspector  in  the  European 
armies  under  a  major-general.  However,  sir,  if  my  ap- 
pointment is  productive  of  any  inconvenience,  or  any 
wise  disagreeable  to  your  excellency,  as  I  neither  applied 
nor  solicited  for  this  place,  I  am  very  ready  to  return  to 
France,  where  I  have  pressing  business  ;  and  this  I  will 
do  with  the  more  satisfaction,  as  I  expect  even  there  to 

*  Dec.  13. 


^T.  20.]  HAMILTON.  33  j_ 

be  useful  to  the  cause."  This  statement  is  at  variance 
with  his  prior  letters  soliciting  the  appointment. 

The  next  day  a  reply  was  given  by  Hamilton  over 
Washington's  name : 

"  I  am  favored  with  your  letter  of  yesterday,  in  which 
you  propose  (in  order  to  lose  no  time)  to  begin  with  the 
instruction  of  the  troops.  You  will  observe,  by  the  reso- 
lution of  Congress  relative  to  your  appointment,  that  the 
Board  of  War  is  to  furnish  a  set  of  instructions,  according 
to  which  the  troops  are  to  be  mano3uvred.  As  you  have 
made  no  mention  of  having  received  them,  I  suppose  they 
are  not  come  to  you :  when  they  do,  I  shall  issue  any  or- 
ders which  may  be  judged  necessary  to  have  them  carried 
into  immediate  execution. 

"  Your  appointment  of  inspector-general  to  the  army, 
has  not,  I  believe,  given  the  least  uneasiness  to  any  officer 
in  it.  By  consulting  your  own  feelings  upon  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  Baron  De  Kalb,  you  may  judge  what  must  be 
the  sensation  of  those  brigadiers,  who  by  your  promotion 
are  superseded.  I  am  told  they  are  determined  to  remon- 
strate against  it.  For  my  own  part,  I  have  nothing  to  do 
in  the  appointment  of  general  officers,  and  shall  always 
afford  every  countenance  and  due  respect  to  those  ap- 
pointed by  Congress,  taking  it  for  granted  that,  prior  to 
any  resolve  of  that  nature,  they  take  a  dispassionate  view 
of  the  merits  of  the  officer  to  be  promoted,  and  consider 
every  conssqucnce  that  can  result  from  such  a  procedure  ; 
nor  have  I  any  other  wish  on  that  head,  but  that  good, 
attentive  officers  may  be  chosen,  and  no  extraordinary 
promotion  take  place,  but  when  the  merit  of  the  officer  is 
so  generally  acknowledged  as  to  obviate  every  reasonable 
cause  of  dissatisfaction  thereat." 

Defeated  in  his  object,  Conway  immediately  replied  in 
this  offensive  manner;  "What  you  are  pleased  to  call  an 


382  THE   EEPUBLIO.  [1778 

extraordinary  promotion  is  a  very  plain  one.  There  is 
nothing  extraordinary  in  it,  only  that  such  a  place  was 
not  thought  of  sooner.  The  general  and  universal  merit 
which  you  wish  every  promoted  officer  might  he  endowed 
with,  is  a  rare  gift.  We  see  but  few  men  of  merit  so  gen- 
erally acknowledged.  We  know  but  the  great  Frederick 
in  Europe,  and  the  great  Washington  on  this  continent. 
I  certainly  never  was  su  rash  as  to  pretend  to  such  a  pro- 
digious height.  Neither  do  I  pretend  to  any  superiority 
in  personal  qualities  over  my  brother  brigadiers,  for  whom 
I  have  much  regard.  But  you,  sir,  and  the  great  Freder- 
ick know  perfectly  well,  that  this  trade  is  not  learnt  in  a 
few  months."  Vaunting  his  long  experience,  he  closed, 
"  However,  sir,  by  the  complexion  of  your  letter,  and  by 
the  two  receptions  you  have  honored  me  with  since  my 
arrival,  I  perceive  that  I  have  not  the  happiness  of  being 
agreeable  to  your  excellency,  and  that  I  can  expect  no 
support  in  fulfilling  the  laborious  duty  of  an  inspector- 
general.  I  do  not  mean  to  give  you  or  any  officer  in  the 
army  the  least  uneasiness.  Therefore  I  am  very  ready  to 
return  to  France,  and  to  the  army  where  1  hope  I  shall 
meet  with  no  frowns." 

To  prevent  misrepresentation,  it  was  thought  expedient 
to  communicate  these  letters  to  Congress.  On  the  second 
of  January,  seventy-eight,  a  letter  written  by  Hamilton  in 
Washington's  name  was  transmitted  to  them : 

"  I  take  the  liberty  of  transmitting  to  you  the  enclosed 
copies  of  a  letter  from  me  to  General  Conway  since  his 
return  from  York  to  camp,  and  of  two  letters  from  him  to 
me  which  you  will  be  pleased  to  lay  before  Congress.  I 
shall  not  in  this  letter  animadvert  upon  them  ;  but  after 
making  a  single  observation,  submit  the  whole  to  Con- 
gress. 

"  If  General  Conway  means  by  cool  receptions,  men- 


Ex.  21.]  HAMILTON.  383 

tioned  in  the  last  paragraph  of  his  letter  of  the  31st  ultimo, 
that  I  did  not  receive  him  in  the  language  of  a  warm  and 
cordial  friend,  I  readily  confess  the  charge.  I  did  not, 
nor  shall  I  ever,  till  I  am  capable  of  the  arts  of  dissimula- 
tion. These  I  despise,  and  my  feelings  will  not  permit 
me  to  make  professions  of  friendship  to  the  man  I  deem 
my  enemy,  and  whose  system  of  conduct  forbids  it.  At 
the  same  time,  truth  authorizes  me  to  say,  that  he  was  re- 
ceived and  treated  with  proper  respect  to  his  official  char- 
acter, and  that  he  has  had  no  cause  to  justify  the  assertion, 
that  he  could  not  expect  any  support  for  fulfilling  the  du- 
ties of  his  appointment." 

Washington  at  this  time  received  the  letter  of  Gates 
demanding  the  source  of  his  information  as  to  the  extract 
of  Conway's  letter.  He  replied  on  the  fourth  of  January  : 

"Your  letter  of  the  8th  ultimo,  came  to  my  hands  a 
few  days  ago,  and  to  my  great  surprise  informed  me  that 
a  copy  of  it  had  been  sent  to  Congress, — for  wrhat  reason 
I  find  myself  unable  to  account ;  but  as  some  end,  doubt- 
less, wras  intended  to  be  answered  by  it,  I  am  laid  under 
the  disagreeable  necessity  of  returning  my  answer  through 
the  same  channel,  lest  any  member  of  that  honorable  body 
should  harbor  an  unfavorable  suspicion  of  my  having 
practised  some  indirect  means  to  come  at  the  contents 
of  the  confidential  letters  between  you  and  General 
Conway. 

I  am  to  inform  you,  then,  that  Colonel  Wilkinson,  on 
his  way  to  Congress,  in  the  month  of  October  last,  fell  in 
with  Lord  Stirling  at  Reading,  and,  not  in  confidence,  that 
I  ever  understood,  informed  his  aide-de-camp,  Me  Wil- 
liams, that  General  Conway  had  written  thus  to  you : 
'  Heaven  has  been  determined  to  save  your  country,  or  a 
weak  general  and  bad  counsellors  *  would  have  ruined  it.' 

*  "  One  of  these,  by  the  bye,  he  was,''  in  a  note  in  his  hand. 


384:  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778 

Lord  Stirling,  from  motives  of  friendship,  transmitted  the 
account,  with  this  remark, — '  The  enclosed  was  communi- 
cated by  Colonel  Wilkinson  to  Major  Me  Williams.  Such 
duplicity  of  conduct  I  shall  always  think  it  my  duty  to 
defeat.' 

"  In  consequence  of  this  information,  and  without  hav- 
ing any  thing  more  in  view  than  merely  to  show  that  gen- 
tleman that  I  was  not  unapprised  of  his  intriguing  dispo- 
sition, I  wrote  him  a  letter  in  these  words :  '  Sir,  a  letter 
which  I  received  last  night,  contained  the  following  para- 
graph in  a  letter  from  General  Conway  to  General  Gates  : 
he  says, — 'Heaven  has  been  determined  to  save  your 
country,  or  a  weak  general  and  bad  counsellors  would 
have  ruined  it.  I  am,  &c.' 

"Neither  this  letter,  nor  the  information  which  occa- 
sioned it,  was  ever  directly  or  indirectly  communicated  by 
me  to  a  single  officer  in  this  army  out  of  my  own  family, 
excepting  the  Marquis  de  la  Fayette,  who  having  been 
spoken  to  on  the  subject  by  General  Conway,  applied  for, 
and  saw,  under  injunctions  of  secrecy,  the  letter  which 
contained  Colonel  Wilkinson's  information.  So  desirous 
was  I  of  concealing  every  matter  that  could  in  its  conse- 
quences give  the  smallest  interruption  to  the  tranquillity 
of  this  army,  or  afford  a  gleam  of  hope  to  the  enemy  by 
dissensions  therein. 

"  Thus,  sir,  with  openness  and  candor,  which  I  hope  will 
ever  characterize  and  mark  my  conduct,  have  I  complied 
with  your  request.  The  only  concern  I  feel  upon  the  oc- 
casion, finding  how  matters  stand,  is,  that  in  doing  this,  I 
have  necessarily  been  obliged  to  name  a  gentleman  whom 
I  am  persuaded,  (although  I  never  exchanged  a  word 
with  him  on  the  subject,)  thought  he  was  rather  doing  an 
act  of  justice,  than  committing  an  act  of  infidelity  ;  and 
sure  I  am,  that  till  Lord  Stirling's  letter  came  to  my 


JEr.  31.]  HAMILTON.  335 

hands,  I  never  knew  that  General  Conway  (whom  I 
viewed  in  the  light  of  a  stranger  to  you)  was  a  corres- 
pondent of  yours,  much  less  did  I  expect  that  I  was  the 
subject  of  your  confidential  letters.  Pardon  me,  then,  for 
adding,  that  so  far  from  conceiving  that  the  safety  of  the 
States  can  be  affected,  or  in  the  smallest  degree  injured 
I  y  a  discovery  of  this  kind,  or  that  I  should  be  called  on 
in  such  solemn  terms  to  point  out  the  author,  that  I  con- 
sidered the  information  as  coming  from  yourself,  and 
given  with  a  friendly  view  to  forewarn,  and,  consequently, 
forearm  me  against  a  secret  enemy  ;  or  in  other  words,  a 
dangerous  incendiary,  in  which  character,  sooner  or  later, 
this  country  will  know  General  Conway.  But  in  this,  as 
in  other  matters  of  late,  I  have  found  myself  mistaken." 

This  letter  was  enclosed  to  the  President  of  Congress 
in  a  note  written  by  Hamilton  over  Washington's  signa- 
ture, on  the  fourth  of  January. 

"  Unwilling  as  I  am  to  add  any  thing  to  the  multi- 
plicity of  matter  that  necessarily  engages  the  attention  of 
Congress,  I  am  compelled  by  unavoidable  necessity  to 
pass  my  answer  to  General  Gates  through  their  hands. 

"  What  could  induce  General  Gates  to  communicate  a 
copy  of  his  letters  to  me  through  that  honorable  body,  is 
beyond  the  depth  of  my  comprehension,  upon  any  fair 
ground  ;  but  the  fact  being  so,  must  stand  as  an  apology 
for  a  liberty,  which  no  other  consideration  would  have 
induced  me  to  take,  to  give  you  this  trouble." 


VOL.  I.— 25 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

WHILE  Gates  was  reflecting  upon  his  embarrassed  situa- 
tion, Washington  was  fully  occupied  with  his  public 
duties. 

In  a  very  cogent  letter  written  soon  after  the  army 
entered  winter  quarters,  a  full  view  was  given  to  Con- 
gress of  its  sufferings  and  its  weakness  resulting  from  the 
defective  management  of  the  commissariat.  Even  Lov- 
ell,  hostile  as  he  was  to  the  commander-in-chief,  acknow- 
ledges, in  a  private  letter  to  General  Lee,  the  sufficiency 
of  his  vindication : 

"  The  extremities  of  these  injuries,"  he  wrote,  "  which 
were  prophesied  some  months  ago,  are  now  realized  in  the 
commissariat ;  and  we  now  find  most  of  our  high  expec- 
tations from  the  expensive  establishment  of  the  quarter- 
master, had  not  a  thorough  foundation.  General  Wash- 
ington has  made  this  evident,  and  shows  it  fairly  to  be  the 
clue  to  unravel  our  many  seemingly  mysterious  past  mis- 
carriages in  the  field." 

It  was  the  criminal  policy  of  the  cabal  to  drive  Wash- 
ington into  measures  to  diminish  his  popularity.  He  had 
been  invested  after  the  battle  of  Brandywine  a  second 
time,  as  previously  stated,  with  large  powers.  Late  in 
December,  the  legislatures  of  the  several  States  were 


^ET.  21.]  HAMILTON.  387 

earnestly  recommended  by  Congress  to  enact  laws,  "  ap- 
pointing persons  to  seize  and  take  for  the  use  of  the  con- 
tinental army,  all  the  necessary  articles  suitable  for  its 
clothing,  to  empower  the  commissary-general  to  seize 
stock  and  every  kind  of  provision  necessary  for  it ;  and 
among  other  things,  to  limit  the  number  of  retailers  of 
goods,  who  were  to  be  compelled  to  take  licenses  and  ex- 
ecute bonds  ;  providing,  that  no  person  should  sell  by 
wholesale  except  the  importer,  and  then  only  to  such  li- 
censed retailers ;  and  that  no  person  not  licensed  should 
be  permitted  to  buy  more  than  was  necessary  for  his  do- 
mestic use."  A  circular  letter  was  addressed  to  the 
States  expressing  a  "  hope,"  that  these  measures  "  will  be 
carried  into  execution  as  secretly  and  expeditiously  as 
possible." 

Improbable  as  the  execution  of  such  arbitrary  laws 
seemed,  and  remote  as  the  aid,  if  any,  must  be  derived 
from  them,  the  true  remedy  was  to  correct  the  abuses  in, 
and  impart  energy  and  system  to  the  commissariat. 
This  would  offend  individuals  upon  whom  the  cabal 
counted,  and  would  be  a  public  acknowledgment  of  one 
of  the  principal  causes  of  the  "  miscarriages  in  the  field." 
It  was  preferred  to  compel  Washington  to  the  exercise  of 
powers  that  must  render  him  obnoxious.  He  must  be  left 
without  aid  from  Congress  or  from  the  Board  of  War,  to 
subsist  his  army  by  forcible  impressments,  or  it  must  dis- 
band. 

The  scope  of  their  policy  was  seen,  and  in  a  short  let- 
ter addressed  to  the  President  of  Congress  on  the  fifth  of 
January,  in  the  name  of  the  commander-in-chief,  was  ex- 
posed to  them  by  Hamilton. 

"  The  letter  you  allude  to  from  the  Committee  of  Con- 
gress and  Board  of  War  came  to  hand  on  Saturday 
morning,  but  it  does  not  mention  the  regulations  adopted 


388  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

for  removing  the  difficulties  and  failures  in  the  commissa- 
ry line.  I  trust  they  will  be  vigorous  or  the  army  cannot 
exist.  It  will  never  answer  to  procure  supplies  of  cloth- 
ing or  provision  by  coercive  measures.  The  small  seiz- 
ures made  of  the  former  a  few  days  ago,  in  consequence 
of  the  most  pressing  and  absolute  necessity,  when  that  or 
to  dissolve  was  the  alternative,  excited  the  greatest  alarm 
and  uneasiness,  even  among  our  best  and  warmest  friends. 
Such  procedures  may  give  a  momentary  relief;  but,  if 
repeated,  will  prove  of  the  most  pernicious  consequence. 
Beside  spreading  dissaffection,  jealousy  and  fear  among 
the  people,  they  never  fail,  even  in  the  most  veteran  troops, 
under  the  most  rigid  and  exact  discipline,  to  raise  in  the 
soldiery  a  disposition  to  licentiousness,  to  plunder  and  rob- 
bery, difficult  to  suppress  afterwards,  and  which  has 
proved  not  only  ruinous  to  the  inhabitants,  but  in  many 
instances  to  armies  themselves.  I  regret  the  occasion  that 
compelled  us  to  the  measure  the  other  day,  and  shall  con- 
sider it  among  the  greatest  of  our  misfortunes  if  we 
should  be  under  the  necessity  of  practising  it  again." 

A  few  days  after,  Hamilton,  over  Washington's  signa- 
ture, wrote  to  Congress,  submitting  several  important 
questions  arising  as  to  a  capture  recently  made  by  a  de- 
tachment of  the  army,  and  by  a  party  of  militia,  in  order 
that  "certain  principles  might  be  established  to  govern 
in  the  like  and  future  cases."  On  the  twenty-second  of 
January  of  the  previous  year,  Washington  issued  a  gen- 
eral order  declaring  that  "  such  articles  as  are  taken,  not 
necessary  for  the  use  of  the  army,  should  be  sold  at  public 
vendue,  under  the  direction  of  the  quarter-master-gen- 
eral, or  of  some  of  his  deputies,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
captors/'  This  order  was  in  principle  conformable  with 
the  practice  of  the  British  government.  The  questions 
propounded  were,  "  What  articles  captured  are  to  be  con- 


^Er.  21.]  HAMILTON.  389 

sidercd  as  public  property?  Whether  articles  captured 
by  parties  or  detachments,  not  determined  public  property, 
are  to  be  distributed  or  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  army 
at  large,  or  are  to  be  considered  as  the  sole  and  exclusive 
right  of  the  captors.  If  in  general  instances,  such  arti- 
cles as  are  taken  and  which  are  not  considered  public 
property,  are  determined  to  be  the  sole  and  exclusive 
right  of  the  captors,  are  stationary  departments,  which 
from  their  situation  have  much  more  than  a  common 
chance  of  making  prizes,  to  be  considered  upon  the  same 
footing,  and  if  there  is  to  be  a  distinction  between  station- 
ary and  other  detachments,  and  the  former  are  deemed 
to  have  an  exclusive  right  to  the  captures  they  make, 
what  proportion  of  the  articles  are  they  to  have  ?  " 

The  legislation  upon  this  subject  long  deferred  is  very 
incomplete,  and  not  very  liberal. 

After  an  interval  of  a  few  days,  on  the  tenth  of  Janu- 
ary, Conway,  confiding  in  the  strength  of  the  faction  in 
Congress,  wrote  again  to  Washington:  "I  understand 
that  your  aversion  to  me  is  owing  to  the  letter  I  wrote  to 
General  Gates.  There  is  not  a  subaltern  in  Europe  but 
what  will  write  to  his  friends  and  acquaintances,  and 
mention  freely  his  opinion  of  the  generals  and  of  the 
army  ;  but  I  never  heard  that  the  least  notice  was  taken 
of  these  letters.  Must  such  an  odious  and  tyrannical  in- 
quisition begin  in  this  country  ?  Must  it  be  introduced 
by  the  commander-in-chief  of  this  army  raised  for  the  de- 
fence of  liberty  ?  I  cannot  believe,  sir,  neither  does  any 
officer  in  your  army  believe,  that  the  objection  to  my  ap- 
pointment originates  from  any  body  living  but  from  you. 
Since  you  will  not  accept  of  my  services,  since  you  can- 
not bear  the  sight  of  me  in  your  camp,  I  am  very  ready 
to  go  wherever  Congress  thinks  proper,  and  even  to 
France  ;  and  I  solemnly  declare,  that,  far  from  resenting 


390  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

the   undeserved  rebuke  I  met  with  from  you,  I  shall  do 
every  thing  in  my  power  to  serve  the  cause." 

Thus  far  the  cabal  had  failed  in  their  object.  On  the 
day  of  the  date  of  this  letter,  a  more  decisive  measure 
was  resorted  to,  which,  it  was  hoped,  might  drive  Wash- 
ington to  resign.  A  resolution  was  passed  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  committee,  to  consist  of  three  members  of  Con- 
gress and  three  members  of  the  Bv.ard  of  War,  to  repair 
to  head-quarters,  with  general  powers  to  reorganize  the 
army,  "  to  recommend  the  necessary  appointments  of 
general  officers,  to  remove  officers  in  the  civil  depart- 
ments of  the  army  and  to  appoint  others  in  their  room ; 
to  report  to  Congress  their  opinion  of  the  necessary  rein- 
forcements and  the  best  mode  of  obtaining  them ;  to  re- 
port such  alterations  as  they  should  deem  expedient  in  the 
regulations  of  the  several  departments ;  and  in  general, 
to  adopt  such  measures  as  they  should  judge  necessary 
for  introducing  economy  and  promoting  discipline  and 
good  morals  in  the  army." 

This  committee  was  to  act  nominally  in  concert  with 
Washington,  but  could  be  regarded  by  him  in  no  othei 
light  than  as  a  permanent  court  of  inquiry  into  his  con 
duct. 

The  members  chosen  were  significant  of  its  purpose, 
— Dana  and  Folsom  from  New  England,  and  Reed  of 
Pennsylvania,  from  Congress. — Gates,  Mifflin  and  Picker- 
ing of  the  Board  of  War  were  associated  with  them  two 
days  after.  Wilkinson  was  appointed  secretary.  Harvie 
was  subsequently  added  to  the  committee. 

As  though  to  encourage  the  dissatisfaction  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  to  accumulate  insults  upon  Washington,  the 
same  faction  passed  a  resolution  applauding  "  the  rising 
spirit  of  the  inhabitants"  of  that  State  to  regain  their 
capital ;  declaring  the  readiness  of  Congress  with  all  their 


/Ex.  21.]  HAMILTON.  39} 

power  to  "  co-operate  with  them,"  and  directing  the  com- 
mittee appointed  to  proceed  to  the  camp,  "  to  consult  with 
the  president  and  council  of  Pennsylvania,  and  with  Gen- 
eral Washington,"  on  the  practicability  of  an  attack.  At 
the  same  time  the  excitement  of  the  legislature  of  that 
State  was  brought  in  aid. 

The  recent  statement  of  Washington  of  the  condition 
of  the  army  seemed  to  be  wholly  disregarded.  "Few 
men,"  he  wrote,  "  have  more  than  one  shirt,  many  only 
the  moiety  of  one,  and  some  none  at  all.  A  number  of 
men  confined  to  hospitals  for  want  of  shoes,  and  others 
in  farmers'  houses  on  the  same  account.  We  have,  by  a 
field  return  this  day  made,  no  less  than  two  thousand 
eight  hundred  ninety-eight  men  now  in  camp  unfit  for 
duty,  because  they  are  barefoot  and  otherwise  naked, 
numbers  having  been  obliged  for  want  of  blankets  and 
still  are,  to  sit  up  all  night  by  fires  instead  of  taking  com- 
fortable rest  in  a  natural  way.  I  can  assure  these  gentle- 
men, that  it  is  a  much  easier  and  less  distressing  thing  to 
draw  remonstrances  in  a  comfortable  room,  by  a  good 
fireside,  than  to  occupy  a  cold  bleak  hill,  and  sleep  under 
frost  and  snow,  without  clothes  or  blankets.  However, 
although  they  seem  to  have  little  feeling  for  the  naked  and 
distressed  soldiers,  I  feel  superabundantly  for  them,  and 
from  my  soul  pity  those  miseries  which  it  is  not  in  my 
power  to  relieve  or  to  prevent." 

This  letter  was  dated  from  the  camp  at  Valley  Forge,* 
which  lies  on  the  western  side  of  the  Schuylkill,  conve- 
nient to  the  rich  country  of  Lancaster  and  Reading,  and 
in  the  first  step  of  the  ascent  of  hills  which  reach  to  the 
North  Mountain  or  Blue  Ridge.  It  possessed  every  ad- 
vantage which  strength  of  ground  or  salubrity  of  climate 
could  bestow.  Here,  by  the  hands  of  his  soldiers,  Wash- 

*  Lee's  Southern  War,  47.  gives  this  description,  with  fuller  remarks. 


392  THE    REPUBLIC.  LlT7b 

ington  erected  a  town  of  huts,  and  strengthened  his  posi- 
tion by  all  the  helps  of  art  and  industry.  He  was  now 
occupied  in  instructing  his  troops,  and  subjecting  them  at 
the  same  time  to  inoculation  for  the  small  pox,  then  a 
fearful  pestilence. 

The  sufferings  of  the  soldiery  in  this  encampment  did 
not  only  proceed  from  want  of  clothing  and  of  protection 
from  the  cold ;  nor  were  abuses  only  seen  in  the  quarter- 
master's department.  The  conduct  of  the  hospital  de- 
partment was  believed  to  have  increased  the  distress  and 
fatality  of  disease.  This  important  matter  was  referred 
to  a  committee.  Linen  and  blankets  were  ordered  to  be 
reserved  for  the  sick,  clothes  to  be  supplied  to  the  conva- 
lescent ;  a  member  of  Congress  was  specially  charged  to 
visit  the  hospitals  in  the  middle  department ;  and  the  cler- 
gy were  requested  to  solicit  charitable  "donations  of  wool- 
lens or  linens  for  the  sick  soldiers."  To  probe  the  evil  to 
its  source,  Shippen,  the  director  general  of  all  the  military 
hospitals  in  the  United  States,  and  Rush,  who  had  been 
surgeon-general,  and  was  now  "physician-general  of  the 
hospital  in  the  middle  department,"  were  ordered  on  the 
sixth  of  January  to  attend  Congress  on  the  twenty-sixth 
of  that  month,  "  to  be  examined  touching  certain  abuses 
said  to  prevail  in  the  hospital."  *  Letters  were  received 
from  these  officers,  and  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  that 
month  were  referred  to  a  Committee  of  Congress,  who 
were  directed  "  to  send  for  them  and  to  hear  them  and  to 
report  specially."  The  next  day  Rush  resigned.  His  res- 
ignation was  forthwith  accepted.f  Shippen  continued  in 
office.  Soon  after,  letters  were  addressed  to  Washington 
and  to  a  member  of  Congress  by  Rush,  charging  Shippen 
with  malconduct.  An  inquiry  was  instituted,  but,  it  would 
seem,  was  not  proceeded  in.  Similar  charges  were  sub- 

*  Journals  Congress,  ii.  394.  f  Ibid.  422,  Jan.  28. 


^Ex.  21.]  HAMILTON.  393 

scquently  preferred  by  another  physician.  Shipper)  was 
arrested,  tried  before  a  court  martial,  and  acquitted. 

On  the  day  this  matter  was  taken  up  in  Congress,  a 
letter  was  addressed  to  Washington  by  his  faithful  sur- 
geon, Craig,  stating  "  that  a  strong  faction  was  forming 
against  him  in  the  new  Board  of  War  and  in  the  Con- 
gress." "  It  was  said  that  some  of  the  eastern  and  south- 
ern members  were  at  the  bottom  of  it,  particularly  one, 
who  has  been  said  to  be  your  enemy  before,  but  denied  it, 
Richard  Henry  Lee  ;  and  that  General  Mifflin,  in  the  new 
Board  of  War,  was  a  very  active  person.  This  last,  I 
am  afraid,  is  too  true.  I  have  reason  to  believe  he  is  not 
your  friend  from  many  circumstances."  After  stating 
the  low  artifices  resorted  to,  he  proceeds :  "  It  is  said,  they 
dare  not  appear  openly  as  your  enemies,  but  that  the  new 
Board  of  War  is  composed  of  such  leading  men  as  will 
throw  such  obstacles  and  difficulties  in  your  way,  as  to 
force  you  to  resign."  "  Mifflin  is  plausible,  sensible,  pop- 
ular, and  ambitious,  takes  great  pains  to  draw  over  every 
officer  he  meets  with  to  his  own  way  of  thinking,  and  is 
very  engaging." 

Six  days  later,  on  the  twelfth  of  January,  an  anony- 
mous letter  was  addressed  to  Patrick  Henry,  Governor 
of  Virginia,  intended  to  destroy  Washington  in  his  native 
State,  which  shows  that  the  recently  instituted  inquiry  as 
to  the  hospital  department  was  not  without  effect.  A 
compliment  to  Henry  and  a  flourish  of  patriotism  precede 
a  sketch  of  the  condition  of  the  public  councils  and  of 
the  army.  "  America  can  only  be  outdone  by  herself. 
She  looks  up  to  her  councils  and  arms  for  protection ; 
but,  alas!  what  are  they?  Her  representation  in  Con- 
gress dwindled  to  only  twenty-one  members  ;  her  Adams, 
her  Wilson,  her  Henry  are  no  more  among  them.  Her 
councils  weak,  and  partial  remedies  applied  constantly  for 


394  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

universal  diseases.  Her  army,  what  is  it?  a  major-gen- 
eral belonging  to  it,  called  it,  a  few  days  ago,  in  my  hear- 
ing, a  mob.  Discipline  unknown,  or  wholly  neglected. 
The  quarter-master's  and  commissary's  departments  filled 
with  idleness,  ignorance,  and  peculation  ;  our  hospitals 
crowded  with  six  thousand  sick,  but  half  provided  with 
necessaries  for  accommodations,  and  more  dying  in  them 
in  one  month  than  perished  in  the  field  during  the  whole 
of  the  last  campaign.  The  money  depreciating,  without 
any  effectual  measures  being  taken  to  raise  it."  "  But  is 
our  case  desperate  ?  By  no  means.  We  have  wisdom, 
virtue,  and  strength  enough  to  save  us,  if  they  could  be 
called  into  action.  The  northern  army  has  shown  us 
what  Americans  are  capable  of  doing  with  a  general  at 
their  head.  The  spirit  of  the  southern  army  is  no  way 
inferior  to  the  spirit  of  the  northern.  A  Gates,  a  Lee,  a 
Conway,  would  in  a  few  weeks  render  them  an  irresist- 
ible body  of  men.  The  last  of  the  above  officers  has 
accepted  of  the  new  office  of  inspector-general  of  our 
army,  in  order  to  reform  abuses,  but  the  remedy  is  only 
a  palliative  one."  He  states  that  the  author  "  is  one  of 
his  Philadelphia  friends.  A  hint  of  his  name,  if  found 
out  by  the  handwriting,  must  not  be  mentioned  to  your 
most  intimate  friend.  Even  the  letter  must  be  thrown 
in  the  fire.  But  some  of  its  contents  ought  to  be  made 
public,  in  order  to  awaken,  enlighten  and  alarm  our 
country." 

This  paper  was  enclosed  by  Patrick  Henry  to  Wash- 
ington, who,  acknowledging  it,  remarked,  "  The  anony- 
mous letter  with  which  you  were  pleased  to  favor  me,  was 
written  by  Doctor  Rush,  so  far  as  I  can  judge  from  a 
similitude  of  hands.  This  man  has  been  elaborate  and 
studied  in  his  professions  of  regard  for  me,  and  long  since 
the  letter  to  you." — "  I  cannot  precisely  mark  the  extent 


^T.  21.]  HAMILTON.  395 

of  their  views  "  (the  cabal),  "  but  it  appeared  in  general, 
that  General  Gates  was  to  be  exalted  on  the  ruin  of  my 
reputation  and  influence." 

Another  anonymous  communication,  entitled  "  Thoughts 
of  a  Freeman,"  was  addressed  to  Henry  Laurens,  who 
had  been  recently  elected  President  of  Congress  in  place 
of  Hancock,  which  was  transmitted  by  him  to  Washing- 
ton. After  a  labored  censure  of  the  commander-in-chief 
and  of  the  administration  of  military  affairs,  it  closed, 
stating,  that  "  The  head  cannot  be  sound  when  the  whole 
body  is  disordered  ;  that  the  people  of  America  have  been 
guilty  of  idolatry,  by  making  a  man  their  god  ;  and  the 
God  of  heaven  and  earth  will  convince  them  by  woful 
experience,  that  he  is  only  a  man  ;  that  no  good  may  be 
expected  from  the  standing  army,  until  Baal  and  his  wor- 
shippers are  banished  from  the  camp." 

While  such  vile  means  were  being  used  to  impair  con- 
fidence in  Washington,  Gates  was  waiting  intelligence  as 
to  the  letter  of  Conway.  Inflated  by  the  incense  offered 
to  him,  and  relieved  by  Washington's  disclosure  of  the 
limited  extent  of  his  knowledge  of  his  correspondence 
with  Conway,  and  that  its  authority  rested  upon  a  verbal 
statement  of  Wilkinson,  Gates  thought  an  easy  escape 
was  open  to  him.  On  the  twenty-third  of  January  he 
answered  Washington  : 

"  The  letter  of  the  4th  inst.  which  I  had  the  honor  to 
receive  yesterday  from  your  excellency,  has  relieved  me 
from  unspeakable  uneasiness.  I  now  anticipate  the 
pleasure  it  will  give  you  when  you  discover  that  what  has 
been  conveyed  to  you  for  an  extract  of  General  Con  way's 
letter  to  me,  was  not  an  information  which  friendly 
motives  induced  a  man  of  honor  to  give,  that  injured 
virtue  might  be  forewarned  against  secret  enemies.  The 
paragraph  which  your  excellency  has  condescended  to 


C';>6  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

transcribe  is  spurious.  It  was  certainly  fabricated  to 
answer  the  most  selfish  and  wicked  purposes. 

"  I  cannot  avoid  sketching  out  to  your  excellency  the 
history  of  General  Conway's  letter  from  the  time  that  it 
came  to  my  hands,  by  Lieutenant-colonel  Troup,  my  aide- 
de-camp,  to  whom  General  Conway  delivered  it  at  Read- 
ing, on  the  llth  of  October,  to  this  time,  as  far  as  it  has 
affected  me,  and  the  officers  of  my  family. 

"  That  letter  contained  very  judicious  remarks  upon 
that  want  of  discipline  which  has  often  alarmed  your  ex- 
cellency, and  I  believe  all  observing  patriots.  The  reasons 
which,  in  his  judgment,  deprived  us  of  the  success  we 
would  reasonably  expect,  were  methodically  explained 
by  him  ;  but  neither  the  weakness  of  any  of  our  generals, 
nor  "  bad  counsellors,"  were  mentioned,  and  consequently 
cannot  be  assigned  or  imagined  as  part  of  those  reasons 
to  which  General  Conway  attributed  some  of  our  losses. 
He  wrote  to  me  as  a  candid  observer,  as  other  officers  in 
every  service  write  to  each  other  for  obtaining  better  in- 
telligence than  that  of  newspapers,  and  that  freedom 
renders  such  letters  thus  far  confidential  in  some  measure. 
The  judgment  of  the  person  who  received  them  points 
out  to  him,  according  to  time  and  circumstances,  the  pro- 
priety or  impropriety  attending  their  being  communicated 
when  no  particular  injunction  of  secrecy  was  requested. 

"Particular  actions,  rather  than  persons,  were  blamed, 
but  with  impartiality  ;  and  I  am  convinced  that  he  did 
not  aim  at  lessening,  in  my  opinion,  the  merit  of  any 
person.  His  letter  was  perfectly  harmless :  however, 
now  that  various  reports  have  been  circulated  concerning 
its  contents,  they  ought  not  to  be  submitted  to  the  solemn 
inspection  of  those  who  stand  most  high  in  the  public  es- 
teem. 

"  Anxiety  and  jealousy  would  arise  in  the  breast  of 


^T.  21.]  HAMILTON.  397 

very  respectable  officers,  who,  rendered  sensible  of  faults, 
which  inexperience,  and  that  alone,  may  have  led  them 
into,  would  be  unnecessarily  disgusted,  if  they  perceived 
a  probability  of  such  errors  being  recorded. 

"Honor  forbids  it,  and  patriotism  demands,  that  I 
should  return  the  letter  into  the  hands  of  the  writer.  I 
will  do  it,  but  at  the  same  time  I  declare  that  the  para- 
graph conveyed  to  your  excellency  as  a  genuine  part  of  it, 
was,  in  words  as  well  as  in  substance,  a  wicked  forgery. 

"About  the  beginning  of  December  I  was  informed 
that  letter  had  occasioned  an  explanation  between  your 
excellency  and  that  gentleman.  Not  knowing  whether 
the  whole  letter  or  part  of  it  had  been  stealingly  copied, 
but  fearing  malice  had  altered  its  original  features,  I  own, 
sir,  that  a  dread  of  the  mischiefs  which  might  attend  the 
forgery  I  suspected  would  be  made,  put  me  for  some  time 
in  a  most  painful  situation.  When  I  communicated  to 
the  officers  in  my  family  the  intelligence  I  had  received, 
they  all  entreated  me  to  rescue  their  characters  from  the 
suspicions  they  justly  conceived  themselves  liable  to  until 
the  guilty  person  should  be  known.  To  facilitate  the  dis- 
covery, I  wrote  your  excellency  ;  but  unable  to  learn 
whether  General  Conway's  letter  had  been  transmitted  to 
you  by  a  member  of  Congress,  or  a  gentleman  in  the 
army,  I  was  afraid  much  time  would  be  lost  in  the  course 
of  the  inquiry,  and  that  the  States  might  receive  some 
capital  injury  from  the  infidelity  of  the  person,  who,  I 
thought,  had  stolen  a  copy  of  the  obnoxious  letter.  Was  it 
not  probable  that  the  secrets  of  the  army  might  be  attained 
and  betrayed  through  the  same  means  to  the  enemy? 

"For  this  reason,  sir, not  doubting  that  Congress  would 
most  cheerfully  concur  with  you  in  tracing  out  the  crim- 
inal, T  wrote  to  the  president,  and  enclosed  to  him  a  copy 
of  my  letter  to  your  excellency. 


398  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

"  About  the  same  time  I  was  forwarding  these  letters, 
Brigadier-general  Wilkinson  returned  to  Albany.  I  in- 
formed him  of  the  treachery  which  had  been  committed, 
but  I  concealed  from  him  the  measures  I  was  pursuing  to 
unmask  the  author.  Wilkinson  answered,  he  was  assured  it 
never  would  come  to  light,  and  endeavored  to  fix  my  sus- 
picions on  Lieutenant-colonel  Troup,  who,  said  he,  might 
have  incautiously  conversed  on  the  substance  of  General 
Con  way's  letter  with  Colonel  Hamilton,  whom  you  had  sent 
not  long  before  to  Albany.  I  did  not  listen  to  this  insinu- 
ation against  your  aide-de-camp  and  mine..  [I*  consid- 
ered it  ungenerous  ;  but  the  light  your  excellency  has  just 
assisted  me  with  exhibiting  the  many  qualifications  which 
are  necessarily  blended  together  by  the  head  and  heart  of 
General  Wilkinson,  I  would  not  omit  this  fact.  It  would 
enable  your  excellency  to  judge  whether  or  not  he  would 
scruple  to  make  such  a  forgery  as  that  which  he  now 
stands  charged  with,  and  ought  to  be  exemplarily  pun- 
ished. To  attempt  sowing  dissensions  among  the  princi- 
pal officers  of  the  army,  and  rendering  them  odious  to 
each  other  by  false  suggestions  and  forgeries,  is,  in  my 
opinion,  a  crime  of  the  first  magnitude,  and  involves  with 
it  all  the  consequences  of  positive  treason.  That  the  for- 
gery now  in  view  was  machinated  for  injuring  General 
Conway,  and  perhaps  myself,  in  your  judgment,  is  now 
evident  to  me  ;  and  I  trust  the  detection  will  operate,  as 
it  ought  to  operate,  upon  your  excellency,  as  well  as  the 
members  of  the  Congress  before  whom  your  letter  neces- 
sitates me  to  lay  this  answer.  The  station  of  the  calum- 
niator seems  to  justify  your  excellency  for  having  be- 
lieved till  now  that  the  extract  was  genuine :  and  yet,  sir, 
[  cannot  help  wishing  you  had  sent  me  a  copy  of  it  im- 

*  The  part  within  the  brackets  was  in  the  original  draft,  and  is   so  pub- 
lished by  Wilkinson.     It  was  omitted  in  the  copy  sent. 


^ET.  21.]  HAMILTON.  399 

mediately  after  your  explanation  with  General  Con- 
way.] 

"  Would  that  your  excellency's  prediction  relative  to 
him  had  not  been  inserted  in  your  letter  which  came  to 
me  unsealed,  through  the  hands  of  Congress.  I  hope  al- 
ways to  find  that  gentleman  a  firm  and  constant  friend  to 
America.  I  never  wrote  to  him  in  my  life,  but  to  satisfy 
his  doubts  concerning  the  exposure  of  his  private  letter, 
nor  had  any  sort  of  intimacy,  nor  hardly  the  smallest  ac- 
quaintance with  him,  before  our  meeting  in  this  town." 

An  incident  occurred  at  this  time  which  marks  the 
effect  of  Washington's  reply  to  Gates.  On  the  twentieth 
of  January  a  resolution  passed  Congress,  "  that  the  mem- 
bers attending  the  business  of  the  Board  of  War,  inquire 
of  General  Gates  whether  he  can  go  to  camp,  agreeably 
to  his  appointment,  for  the  purpose  expressed  in  the  gen- 
eral resolution  for  reorganizing  and  reforming  the  army." 
In  the  afternoon  of  that  day,  the  members  reported 
"reasons  assigned  by  Gates,  why  the  members  of  that 
Board  ought  immediately  to  enter  on  the  business  of  that 
department."  They  were  forthwith  excused  proceeding 
to  camp,  Gates  and  Mifflin  shrinking  from  being  con- 
fronted by  Washington.  In  their  place,  two  of  his  known 
friends,  Carroll  and  Gouverneur  Morris,  were  appointed. 

One  of  the  first  letters  of  Gates,  after  he  took  his  seat 
at  the  Board  was  a  complaint  that  he  was  ill  lodged  in  an 
expensive  tavern.  This  was  at  the  time  when  Washing- 
ton and  his  army  were  suffering  at  Valley  Forge.  Soon 
after,  he  signalized  his  recently  attained  eminence  by  a 
report  in  favor  of  an  irruption  into  Canada.  It  invested 
the  Board  of  War  with  complete  authority  to  take  every 
necessary  measure  for  the  execution  of  this  scheme,  un- 
der such  general  officers  as  Congress  should  appoint,  and 
to  apply  for  all  necessary  means.  The  following  day  the 


400  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

general  officers  were  appointed — La  Fayette,  Con  way, 
Stark. 

Conway,  anxious  to  remove  every  impediment  to  his 
ambition,  about  this  time  wrote  to  Washington,  assuring 
him  that  his  letter  had  been  returned  by  Gates,  that  he 
found  "  with  great  satisfaction,  that  the  paragraph  so  much 
spoken  of  does  not  exist  in  the  said  letter,  nor  any  thing 
like  it."  He  meant,  he  wrote,  "  to  have  the  letter  pub- 
lished with  the  certificate  of  General  Gates,  but  he  was 
prevented  by  President  Laurens  and  some  other  members, 
who  were  of  opinion  that  such  a  measure  would  inform 
the  enemy  of  a  misunderstanding  among  the  American 
generals."  He  pronounced  it  "  a  forgery."  Not  con- 
vinced by  his  precise  assurance,  this  extraordinary  at- 
tempt, after  the  admission  of  Gates  in  his  previous  letter, 
to  induce  the  belief  that  the  extract  was  a  forgery,  and 
a  forgery  perpetrated  by  Wilkinson,  a  member  of  his  own 
staff,  received  this  comment  from  the  commander-in-chief, 
in  a  reply  to  Gates  of  the  ninth  of  February. 

"  I  was  duly  favored  with  your  letter  of  the  23d  last 
month,  to  which  I  should  have  replied  sooner,  had  I  not 
been  delayed  by  business  that  required  my  more  imme- 
diate attention. 

"  It  is  my  wish  to  give  implicit  credit  to  the  assurances 
of  every  gentleman ;  but  on  the  subject  of  our  present 
correspondence,  I  am  sorry  to  confess,  there  happen  to  be 
some  unlucky  circumstances  which  involuntarily  compel 
me  to  consider  the  discovery  you  mention  not  so  satisfac- 
tory and  conclusive  as  you  seem  to  think  it.* 

*  In  a  private  letter  from  Washington  to  Jay,  written  by  Hamilton,  dated 
April  14,  1779,  he  observes:  "I  discovered,  very  early  in  the  war,  symptoms 
of  coldness  and  constraint  in  General  Gates'  behavior  to  me.  These  increased 
us  he  rose  into  greater  consequence,  but  we  did  not  come  to  a  direct  breach  till 
the  ln'girr.iin  r  of  last  year.  This  was  occasioned  by  a  correspondence,  which 


JET.  21.]  HAMILTON.  401 

"  I  am  so  unhappy  as  to  find  no  small  difficulty  in  re- 
conciling the  spirit  and  import  of  your  different  letters, 
and  sometime  the  different  parts  of  the  same  letter  with 
each  other. 

"  It  is  not  unreasonable  to  presume,  that  your  first  in- 
formation of  my  having  notice  of  General  Conway's  letter, 
came  from  himself ;  there  were  very  few  in  the  secret, 
and  it  is  natural  to  suppose,  that  he  being  immediately 
concerned,  would  be  the  most  interested  to  convey  the 
intelligence  to  you.  It  is  also  far  from  improbable,  that 
he  acquainted  you  with  the  substance  of  the  passage 
communicated  to  me ;  one  would  expect  this  if  he  be- 
lieved it  to  be  spurious,  in  order  to  ascertain  the  imposi- 
tion and  evince  his  innocence,  especially  as  he  seemed  to 
be  under  some  uncertainty  as  to  the  precise  contents  of 
what  he  had  written,  when  I  signified  my  knowledge  of 
the  matter  to  him.  If  he  neglected  doing  it,  the  omission 
cannot  easily  be  interpreted  into  any  thing  else  than  a 
consciousness  of  the  reality  of  the  extract,  if  not  literally, 
at  least  substantially.  If  he  did  not  neglect  it,  it  must 
appear  somewhat  strange  that  the  forgery  remained  so 
long  undetected,  and  that  your  first  letter  to  me  from  Al- 
bany, of  the  eighth  of  December,  should  tacitly  recognise 
the  genuineness  of  the  paragraph  in  question  ;  while  your 
only  concern  at  that  time  seemed  to  be,  the  '  tracing  out 
the  author  of  the  infidelity,  which  put  extracts  of  General 
Conway's  letters  into  my  hands.'  Throughout  the  whole 
of  that  letter,  the  reality  of  the  extracts  is,  by  the  fairest 

I  thought  made  rather  free  with  me,  between  him  and  General  Gonway,  which 
accidentally  came  to  my  knowledge.  The  particulars  of  this  affair  you  will 
find  delineated  in  the  packet  herewith,  endorsed  '  Papers  respecting  General 
Conway.'  Besides  the  evidence  contained  in  them  of  the  genuineness  of  the 
offensive  correspondence,  /  have  other  proofs  still  more  convincing,  which,  having 
been  gieen  me  in  a  confidential  way,  I  am  not  at  liberty  to  impart.'' 

VOL.  I.— 26 


402  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

implication,  allowed,  and  your  only  solicitude  was  to  find 
out  the  person  who  brought  them  to  light.  After  making 
the  most  earnest  pursuit  of  the  author  of  the  supposed 
treachery,  without  saying  a  word  about  the  truth  or  false- 
hood of  the  passage,  your  letter  of  the  twenty-third  ultimo, 
to  my  great  surprise,  proclaims  it  in  words,  as  well  as  sub- 
stance, a  '  wicked  forgery.' 

"  It  is  not  my  intention  to  contradict  this  assertion,  but 
only  to  intimate  some  considerations,  which  tend  to  induce 
a  supposition,  that  though  none  of  General  Conway's  let- 
ters to  you  contain  the  offensive  passage  mentioned,  there 
might  have  been  something  in  them  too  nearly  related  to 
it,  that  could  give  such  an  extraordinary  alarm.  It  may 
be  said,  if  this  were  not  the  case,  how  easy,  in  the  first 
instance,  to  declare  there  was  nothing  exceptionable  in 
them,  and  to  have  produced  the  letters  themselves  in  sup- 
port of  them  ?  This  may  be  thought  the  most  proper  and 
effectual  way  of  refuting  misrepresentations,  and  remov- 
ing all  suspicion.  The  propriety  of  the  objections  sug- 
gested against  submitting  them  to  inspection,  may  very 
well  be  questioned ;  the  various  reports  circulated  con- 
cerning their  contents  were,  perhaps,  so  many  arguments 
for  making  them  speak  for  themselves,  to  place  the  mat- 
ter upon  the  footing  of  certainty.  Concealment,  in  an 
affair  which  had  made  so  much  noise,  though  not  by  my 
means,  will  naturally  lead  men  to  conjecture  the  worst, 
and  it  will  be  a  subject  of  speculation  even  to  candor 
itself.  The  anxiety  and  jealousy  you  apprehend  from  re- 
vealing the  letter,  will  be  very  apt  to  be  increased  by  sup- 
pressing it.  It  may  be  asked,  why  not  submit  to  inspec- 
tion a  performance  perfectly  harmless,  and  of  course 
conceived  in  terms  of  proper  caution  and  delicacy  ? 
Why  suppose  that  "  anxiety  and  jealousy  "  would  have 
arisen  in  the  breasts  of  very  respectable  officers,  or  that 


jET.  21.J  HAMILTON.  493 

they  would  have  been  necessarily  disgusted  at  being  made 
sensible  of  their  faults  when  related  with  judgment  and 
impartiality  by  a  candid  observer  ?  Surely  they  could  not 
have  been  unreasonable  enough  to  take  offence  at  a  per- 
formance so  perfectly  inoffensive,  '  blaming  actions  rather 
than  persons,'  which  have  evidently  no  connection  with 
one  another;  and  indulgently  '  recording  the  errors  of 
inexperience.' 

"  You  are  pleased  to  consider  General  Conway's  let- 
ters as  of  a  confidential  nature,  observing,  that  '  time  and 
circumstances  must  point  out  the  propriety  or  impropriety 
of  communicating  such  letters.'  Permit  me  to  inquire, 
whether,  when  there  is  an  impropriety  in  communication, 
it  is  only  applicable  with  respect  to  the  parties  who  are 
the  subject  of  them  ?  One  might  be  led  to  imagine  this 
to  be  the  case,  from  your  having  admitted  others  into  the 
secret  of  your  confidential  correspondence,  at  the  same 
time  that  you  thought  it  ineligible  it  should  be  trusted  to 
those  officers  whose  actions  underwent  its  scrutiny. 
Your  not  knowing  whether  the  letter  under  consideration 
'  came  to  me  from  a  member  of  Congress  or  from  an  offi- 
cer,' plainly  indicates  that  you  had  originally  communi- 
cated it  to  at  least  one  of  that  honorable  body  ;  and  I 
learn  from  General  Conway,  that  before  his  late  arrival 
at  York-Town,  it  had  been  committed  to  the  perusal  of 
several  of  its  members,  and  was  afterwards  shown  by 
himself  to  three  more.  It  is  somewhat  difficult  to  con- 
ceive a  reason  founded  in  generosity,  for  imparting  the 
free  and  confidential  strictures  of  this  ingenuous  censor 
on  the  operations  of  the  army  under  my  command,  to  a 
member  of  Congress ;  but,  perhaps,  '  time  and  circum- 
stances pointed  it  out.'  It  must  be  indeed  acknowledged, 
that  the  faults  of  very  respectable  officers,  not  less  inju- 
rious for  being  the  result  of  inexperience,  were  not  im- 


404  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

proper  topics  to  engage  the  attention  of  members  of  Con- 
gress. 

"  It  is,  however,  greatly  to  be  lamented  that  this  adept 
in  military  science  did  not  employ  his  abilities  in  the  pro- 
gress of  the  campaign,  in  pointing  out  those  wise  mea- 
sures which  were  calculated  to  give  us  '  that  degree  of 
success  we  might  reasonably  expect.'  The  United  States 
have  lost  much  by  that  unseasonable  diffidence,  which 
prevented  his  embracing  the  numerous  opportunities  he 
had  in  council,  of  displaying  those  rich  treasures  of  know- 
ledge and  experience  he  has  since  so  freely  laid  open  to 
you.  I  will  not  do  him  the  injustice  to  impute  the  penu- 
rious reserve,  which  ever  appeared  in  him  on  such  occa- 
sions, to  any  other  cause  than  an  excess  of  modesty  ; 
neither  will  I  suppose  he  possesses  no  other  merit  than  of 
that  kind  of  sagacity,  which  qualifies  a  man  better  for 
profound  discoveries  of  errors  that  have  been  committed, 
and  advantages  that  have  been  lost,  than  for  the  exercise 
of  that  foresight  and  provident  discernment,  which  enable 
him  to  avoid  the  one  and  anticipate  the  other ;  but,  wil- 
ling as  I  am  to  subscribe  to  all  his  pretensions,  and  believe 
that  his  remarks  on  the  operations  of  the  campaign  were 
very  judicious,  and  that  he  has  sagaciously  descanted  on 
many  things  that  might  have  been  done,  I  cannot  help 
being  a  little  sceptical  as  to  his  ability  to  have  found  out 
the  means  of  accomplishing  them,  or  to  prove  the  suffi- 
ciency of  those  in  our  possession.  These  minutiae,  I  sus- 
pect, he  did  not  think  worth  his  attention,  particularly  as 
they  might  not  be  within  the  compass  of  his  views. 

"  Notwithstanding  the  hopeful  presages  you  are  pleased 
to  figure  to  yourself  of  General  Conway's  firm  and  con- 
stant friendship  to  America,  I  cannot  persuade  myself  to 
retract  the  prediction  concerning  him,  which  you  so  em- 
phatically wish  had  not  been  inserted  in  my  last.  A 


^ET.  21.J  HAMILTON.  405 

better  acquaintance  with  him  than  I  have  reason  to  think 
you  have  had,  from  what  you  say,  and  a  concurrence  of 
circumstances  oblige  me  to  give  him  but  little  credit  for 
the  qualities  of  his  heart,  of  which,  at  least,  I  beg  leave  to 
assume  the  privilege  of  being  a  tolerable  judge.  Were  it 
necessary,  more  instances  than  one  might  be  adduced  from 
his  behavior  and  conversation,  to  manifest  that  he  is  ca- 
pable of  all  the  malignity  of  detraction,  and  all  the  mean- 
ness of  intrigue,  to  gratify  the  absurd  resentment  of 
disappointed  vanity,  or  to  answer  the  purposes  of  per- 
sonal aggrandizement,  and  promote  the  interest  of  a  fac- 
tion." 

To  this  severe  sarcasm,  which  no  man  conscious  of  his 
innocence  would  have  brooked,  General  Gates  gave  the 
following  submissive  reply. 

"  I  yesterday  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  excellency's 
letter  of  the  9th  instant,  and  earnestly  hope  no  more  of 
that  time,  so  precious  to  the  public,  may  be  lost  upon  the 
subject  of  General  Conway's  letter.  Whether  that  gen- 
tleman does  or  does  not  deserve  the  suspicions  you  ex- 
press, would  be  entirely  indifferent  to  me,  did  he  not 
possess  an  office  of  high  rank  in  the  army  of  the  United 
States ;  for  that  reason  solely,  1  wish  he  may  answer  all 
the  expectations  of  Congress. 

"  As  to  the  gentleman,  I  have  no  personal  connection 
with  him,  nor  had  I  any  correspondence  previous  to  his 
writing  the  letter  which  has  given  offence,  nor  have  I  since 
written  to  him,  save  to  certify  what  I  know  to  be  the  con- 
tents of  the  letter.  He,  therefore,  must  be  responsible  ; — 
as  I  heartily  dislike  controversy,  even  upon  my  own  ac- 
count, and  much  more  in  a  matter  wherein  I  was  only 
accidentally  concerned.  In  regard  to  the  parts  of  your 
excellency's  letter  addressed  particularly  to  me,  I  solemnly 
declare  that  I  am  of  no  faction,  and  if  any  of  my  letters, 


406  THE   REPUBLIC.  [ITTa 

taken  aggregately  or  by  paragraphs,  convey  any  meaning 
which,  in  any  construction,  is  offensive  to  your  excellency, 
that  was  by  no  means  the  intention  of  the  writer.  After 
this,  I  cannot  believe  your  excellency  will  either  suffer 
your  suspicions,  or  the  prejudices  of  others,  to  induce  you 
to  spend  another  moment  upon  the  subject." 

The  communications  with  Gates  were  closed  on  the 
twenty-fourth  February,  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy- 
eight,  with  a  dignified  assent  to  his  humble  proposition  to 
bury  all  that  had  passed  in  oblivion. 

"  I  yesterday  received  your  favor  of  the  nineteenth  in- 
stant. I  am  as  averse  to  controversy  as  any  man ;  and 
had  I  not  been  forced  into  it,  you  never  would  have  had 
occasion  to  impute  to  me  even  a  shadow  of  a  disposition 
towards  it.  Your  repeatedly  and  solemnly  disclaiming 
any  offensive  views  in  these  matters  which  have  been  the 
subject  of  our  past  correspondence,  makes  me  willing  to 
close  with  the  desire  you  express,  of  burying  them  here- 
after in  silence ;  and,  as  far  as  future  events  will  permit, 
oblivion. 

"  My  temper  leads  me  to  peace  and  harmony  with  all 
men ;  and  it  is  particularly  my  wish  to  avoid  any  personal 
feuds  or  dissensions  with  those  who  are  embarked  in  the 
same  great  national  contest  with  myself;  as  every  differ- 
ence of  this  kind  must  in  its  consequences  be  injurious." 

This  correspondence,  while  it  defeated  the  machina- 
tions of  the  faction,  was  a  source  of  gratification  to 
Hamilton,  not  merely  as  a  vindication  of  the  commander- 
in-chief,  but  of  his  own  wantonly  assailed  character. 

The  projected  invasion  of  Canada  which  was  to 
crown  Gates  with  honor,  failed  in  a  most  unexpected 
manner.  "  Among  the  general  attacks  upon  the  confi- 
dential friends  of  Washington,"  La  Fayette  relates,*  "  for 

*  MS.  Memoir  of  Gen.  La  Favette. 


Mr.  21.]  HAMILTON.  407 

it  would  have  been  too  unpopular  to  have  indulged  in 
open  attacks  upon  him  personally,  in  which  his  pretended 
incapacity  had  rendered  the  campaign  in  the  South  so 
different  from  that  in  the  North,  under  a  general  con- 
versant with  European  tactics,  and  the  much  lamented 
influence  of  such  men  as  Greene,  Knox,  and  Hamilton, 
over  the  subjugated  mind  of  the  commander-in-chief, 
were  artfully  suggested  and  circulated,  it  had  not  been 
deemed  expedient  to  include  La  Fayette.  A  better  use, 
it  was  supposed,  might  be  made  of  his  growing  popularity 
with  the  country,  and  of  his  correspondence  with  his 
friends  in  Europe." 

With  this  view,  though  then  but  twenty  years  of  age, 
only  six  months  in  America,  and  without  military 
knowledge  or  experience,  the  selection  had  been  made. 
The  prospect  of  glory  and  the  pride  of  a  separate  com- 
mand, it  was  supposed,  would  dazzle  his  youthful  ardent 
mind,  and  tempt  him  to  become  a  partisan  of  the  faction, 
while  the  conduct  of  the  enterprise  would  in  fact  devolve 
upon  Conway. 

The  deportment  of  the  Board  of  War  towards  Wash- 
ington was  marked.  The  official  letter  of  Gates  to  La 
Fayette  was  transmitted  through  the  hands  of  the  com- 
mander-in-chief without  an  explanation.  On  the  delivery 
of  the  packet  to  La  Fayette,  Washington  simply  ob- 
served :  "  Since  it  is  to  be  so,  I  had  rather  it  was  you  than 
any  body  else." 

La  Fayette  states,  that  "struck  with  the  proffered 
opportunity  of  counteracting  a  measure,  the  tendency  of 
which  was  not  less  injurious  to  the  cause,  than  invidious 
to  his  paternal  friend,  under  the  pretence  that  it  was 
necessary  for  him  to  visit  Congress  to  arrange  the  mea- 
sures for  the  expedition,  he  proceeded  immediately  to 
Yorktown.  There  he  omitted  no  arguments  with  Gates, 


408  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778 

and  in  his  conferences  with  Laurens,  the  President  of 
Congress,  to  convince  them  that  the  whole  charge  of  the 
military  operations  should  be  under  the  control  of  the 
eommander-in-chief.  Finding  that  his  views  were  little 
in  accordance  with  the  intentions  of  the  faction,  he  firmly 
resisted  the  temptations  offered  by  the  glory  and  facilities 
of  an  independent  command  ;  and  stated,  that  considering 
himself  as  one  of  Washington's  family,  he  could  not 
accept  the  trust  except  on  the  condition  that  he  should 
act  under  Washington's  immediate  orders." 

To  this  proposal,  the  Board  of  War  were  compelled 
to  accede ;  and,  at  the  request  of  La  Fayette,  De  Kalb,  a 
senior  officer  to  Conway,  was  attached  to  the  command. 
La  Fayette,  after  a  conference  with  Washington,  pro- 
ceeded to  Albany.  There,  in  pursuance  of  the  instruc- 
tions of  the  Board  of  War,  he  ought  to  have  found  a  body 
of  two  thousand  five  hundred  men,  besides  militia,  at  the 
Cohoes,  and  all  the  means  "  of  acting  on  the  ice  on  Lake 
Champlain  and  burning  the  British  flotilla,  whence  he  was 
to  proceed  to  Montreal."  Conway  had  preceded  him. 
"  His  first  words  were,  that  the  expedition  was  quite  im- 
possible." Schuyler,  Lincoln  and  Arnold  had  all  ex- 
pressed the  same  opinion.  "I  have  consulted  every 
body,"  La  Fayette  writes,*  "and  every  body  answers  it 
would  be  madness.  I  have  been  deceived  by  the  Board 
of  War.  I  do  not  believe  I  can  find  twelve  hundred 
fit  for  duty,  and  the  greatest  part  of  these  are  naked  even 
for  a  summer  campaign.  I  was  to  find  General  Stark 
with  a  large  body  ;  and  indeed  General  Gates  told  me, 
'  General  Stark  will  have  burnt  the  fleet  before  your  arrival' 
Well,  the  first  letter  I  receive  in  Albany  is  from  General 
Stark,  who  wishes  to  know  '  what  number  of  men,  from 
where,  for  what  time,  and  for  what  rendezvous  /  desire 

*  La  Fayette  to  Washington,  Feb.  19,  1778. 


JR-c.  21.]  HAMILTON.  409 

him  to  raise.  Colonel  Biddle,  who  was  to  raise  men,  would 
have  done  something  had  he  received  money.' " 

Greatly  mortified,  La  Fayette  wrote  Washington  :  "  I 
fancy  the  actual  scheme  is  to  have  me  out  of  this  part  of 
the  continent,  and  General  Conway  as  chief,  under  the 
immediate  direction  of  Gates."  La  Fayette  was  rewarded 
for  his  alacrity  by  the  thanks  of  Congress,  and  retained 
the  command  of  the  northern  department  during  the 
residue  of  the  winter.  The  project  having  exploded, 
Conway  was  ordered  to  repair  to  the  post  at  Peekskill 
under  McDougall. 

The  faction  now  crumbled  to  pieces.  "  We  have  de- 
termined," Gouverneur  Morris  wrote  to  Washington,  "  to 
send  Gates  to  Hudson  River,  where  he  is  to  command 
largely.  But  he  is  to  receive  instructions,  which  shall  be 
proper.  You  are  directed  to  call  a  council  of  major- 
generals"  (those  in  Pennsylvania),  "in  which  the  chief 
engineer  is  officially  to  be  a  member,  and  to  which,  by  a 
subsequent  resolution,  Generals  Gates  and  Mifflin  were 
ordered  to  repair.  As  these  gentlemen  ought  not  to  re- 
ceive orders  immediately  from  Congress,  they  are,  as  you 
will  see,  permitted  to  leave  the  Board  of  War  upon  your 
order."  This  amendment  was  acquiesced  in  unanimously. 
Mifflin  was  soon  after  ordered  to  join  the  main  army. 
"  I  was  not  a  little  surprised,"  Washington  writes,"  to  find 
a  certain  gentleman,  who,  some  time  ago,  when  a  cloud 
of  darkness  hung  heavy  over  us,  and  our  affairs  looked 
gloomy,  was  desirous  of  resigning,  to  be  now  stepping 
forward  in  the  line  of  the  army.  But  if  he  can  reconcile 
such  conduct  to  his  own  feelings  as  an  officer  and  a  man 
of  honor,  and  Congress  has  no  objection  to  his  leaving 
his  seat  in  another  department,  I  have  nothing  personally 
to  oppose  to  it." — "I  am  told  that  Conway,  from  whom  I 
have  received  another  impertinent  letter,  demanding  the 


410  THE    KEPUBLIC.  [1778. 

command  of  a  division  of  the  continental  army,  is,  through 
the  medium  of  his  friends,  soliciting  his  commission  again. 
Can  this  be  ?  and  if  so,  will  it  be  granted  ?  " 

Conway  had  been  ordered  from  Peekskill  to  Albany. 
Thence  he  wrote  to  Congress :  "  What  is  the  meaning  of 
removing  me  from  the  scene  of  action  on  the  opening  of 
a  campaign  ?  I  did  not  deserve  this  burlesque  disgrace, 
and  my  honor  will  not  permit  me  to  bear  it.  It  is  not 
becoming  the  dignity  of  Congress  to  give  such  usage  to 
an  officer  of  my  age  and  rank."  He  tendered  his  resig- 
nation. Morris  avowed  his  satisfaction,  his  joy,  at  the 
receipt  of  this  letter.  Panegyric  dwindled  to  apology, 
and  no  opposition  was  made.*  Conway  had  little  expec- 
tation of  this  result.  He  wrote  to  Congress  "that  he 
had  no  thoughts  of  resigning,"  and  also  to  his  patron. 
Gates  applied  to  Congress  in  his  behalf :  "I  hope  Con- 
gress will  not  think  me  importunate  when  I  say,  I  wish 
the  only  gentleman  who  has  left  France  with  the  rank  of 
a  colonel  of  foot  should  not  be  returned  to  his  prince  and 
nation  in  any  other  manner  than  such  as  becomes  the 
gratitude,  honor  and  dignity  of  the  United  States."  The 
exhortation  was  vain.  Conway  then  repaired  to  York- 
town,  whence  he  wrote  to  Gates,  "  I  never  had  a  sufficient 
idea  of  cabals  until  I  reached  this  place.  My  reception, 
you  may  imagine,  was  not  a  warm  one.  I  must  except 
Mr.  Samuel  Adams,  Colonel  Richard  Henry  Lee,  and  a 
few  others  who  are  attached  to  you,  but  who  cannot 
oppose  the  torrent.  One  Mr.  Carroll,  on  whose  friend- 
ship I  depended,  is  one  of  the  hottest."  "  The  New 
York  gang,"  f  writes  a  tool  of  Gates,  "  has  reached  the 

*  G.  M.  to  Washington,  May  21,  1778.  The  vote  on,  the  journal  shows 
only  four  members  in  his  favor,  to  twenty-three — Gerry  of  Massachusetts, 
Chase  of  Maryland,  R.  H.  Lee  and  Bannister,  of  Virginia. 

•}•  Dner  and  G.  Morris. 


^ET.  21.]  HAMILTON. 

height  of  ascendency,  but  they  will  be  the  more  effec- 
tually crushed  in  their  fall  if  intrepidity  and  prudence 
join  in  the  virtuous  purpose  of  breaking  them.  They 
well  know  their  reign  is  but  short,  if  we  make  a  good 
use  of  our  senses."  Conway,  soon  after,  wounded  in  a 
duel  with  Cadwallader,  wrote  Washington  a  penitent 
letter  ;  and  on  his  recovery  left  the  United  States. 

As  a  closing  scene  in  the  fate  of  the  cabal,  a  resolu- 
tion of  Congress  declared  "  that  alarming  consequences 
are  likely  to  ensue  from  a  longer  delay  of  appointing 
proper  persons  to  fill  the  quartermaster-general's  depart- 
ment ;  that  the  committee  at  camp,  in  conjunction  with 
General  Washington,  be  authorized  forthwith  to  make 
proper  appointments."  The  arrangement  of  this  depart- 
ment, as  framed  by  the  Board  of  War,  was  abandoned. 
General  Greene  was  appointed,  retaining  his  rank  in  the 
line,  in  place  of  Mlfflin.  An  inquiry  being  ordered  into 
his  conduct,  Mifflin  sought  to  avoid  it,  but,  after  full 
deliberation,  Washington  was  directed  to  convene  a  court- 
martial.  Delicacy,  probably,  delayed  his  acting  upon 
this  resolution,  lest  it  should  be  ascribed  to  personal 
animosity.  The  subject  was  resumed  in  Congress,  and, 
after  serious  charges,  Washington  was  directed  to  pro- 
ceed with  the  inquiry.  Mifflin,  who  had  previously  ten- 
dered his  resignation,  was  soon  after  permitted  to  resign. 

An  occurrence  took  place  during  the  short  dominance 
of  this  cabal  which  distinctly  marked  their  object.  Gor- 
don,* who  is  seen  to  have  been  on  most  intimate  relations 
with  Gates,  five  days  after  the  appointment  of  the  super- 
visory committee  of  which  Gates  was  to  be  the  head, 
wrote  to  Washington  in  order  to  ascertain  the  impression 
their  plots  had  made  upon  him.  Ignorant  of  his  relations 

*  Wm.  Gordon,  D.  D.,  author  of  the  '•  History  of  the  Independence  of  the 

United  States." 


412  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

with  Gates,  and  unsuspicious  of  the  object,  Washington 
answered :  *  "  I  can  assure  you,  that  no  person  ever 
heard  me  drop  an  expression  that  had  a  tendency  to 
resignation.  The  same  principles  that  led  me  to  embark 
in  the  opposition  to  the  arbitrary  claims  of  Great  Britain, 
operate  with  additional  force  at  this  day ;  nor  is  it  my 
desire  to  withdraw  my  services  while  they  are  considered 
of  importance  in  the  present  contest ;  but  to  report  a 
design  of  this  kind  is  among  the  arts  which  those  who 
are  endeavoring  to  effect  a  change,  are  practising  to 
bring  it  to  pass. 

"  I  have  said,  and  I  do  still  say,  that  there  is  not  an 
officer  in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  that  would 
return  to  the  sweets  of  domestic  life  with  more  heartfelt 
joy  than  I  should.  But  I  would  have  this  declaration 
accompanied  by  these  sentiments,  that,  while  the  public 
are  satisfied  with  my  endeavors,  I  mean  not  to  shrink 
from  the  cause.  But  the  moment  her  voice,  not  that  of 
faction,  calls  upon  me  to  resign,  I  shall  do  it  with  as  much 
pleasure  as  ever  the  wearied  traveller  retired  to  rest." 

In  this  dark  background  of  American  history  how 
bold  the  relief  in  which  Washington  stands  forth !  No 
injustice,  no  wrong,  no  calumny,  no  clamor,  no  contumely 
could  make  him  falter  a  moment  in  his  duty.  He  knew 
his  motives  of  action,  and  this  knowledge  sustained  him 
amid  all  his  dangers  and  all  his  difficulties,  pressing  as  they 
were. 

"  With  grief  and  shame,"  a  southern  member  of  Con- 
gress wrote  in  seventy-five,  "  it  must  be  confessed,  that  the 
whole  blame  lies  not  with  the  army.  You  will  find  your 
hands  straitened,  instead  of  strengthened.'1''  f — "  I  have 
thought,"  Washington  writes  to  Reed  in  seventy-six  with 

*  Feb.  15,  1778.     Answer  to  letter  Jan.  12,  previous, 
t  Lynch  to  Washington. 


J2i.  21.]  HAMILTON.  413 

confiding  earnestness,  "  how  much  happier  I  should  have 
been,  if,  instead  of  accepting  the  command  under  such 
circumstances,  I  had  taken  my  musket  on  my  shoulder 
and  entered  the  ranks ;  or,  if  I  could  have  justified  the 
measure  to  posterity  and  my  own  conscience,  had  retired 
to  the  back  country,  and  lived  in  a  wigwam." — "  I  see," 
he  wrote  the  President  of  Congress  late  in  the  same  year, 
"I  see  such  a  distrust  and  jealousy  of  military  power, 
that  the  commander-in-chief  has  not  the  opportunity,  even 
by  recommendation,  to  give  the  least  assurances  of  reward 
for  the  most  essential  services." — "To  criminate  the 
authors  of  our  errors,"  Robert  Morris  writes  him,  "  would 
not  avail,  but  we  cannot  see  ruin  staring  us  in  the  face 
without  thinking  of  them." — "  I  agree  with  you,"  Wash- 
ington replied,  at  the  moment  *  before  the  victory  of 
Trenton,  "that  it  is  in  vain  to  ruminate  upon,  or  even  re- 
flect upon  the  authors  or  causes  of  our  present  misfor- 
tunes ;  we  should  rather  exert  ourselves  and  look  forward 
with  hopes  that  some  lucky  chance  may  yet  turn  up  in  our 
favor." — "Your  observations,"  he  again  wrote  to  him,  "on 
the  want  of  many  capital  characters  in  that  senate,  are 
but  too  just.  However,  our  cause  is  good,  and  I  hope 
Providence  will  support  it." 

And  when  the  cabal  against  him  was  at  its  height,  he 
answers  a  new  delegate  in  Congress  from  Virginia :  f 
"  Nothing  short  of  independence,  it  appears  to  me,  can 
possibly  do.  A  peace  on  other  terms  would  be,  if  I  may 
be  allowed  the  expression,  a  peace  of  war.  . '  The  indeci- 
sion of  Congress'  is  one  point,  the  other  is  the  jealousy 
which  Congress  unhappily  entertain  of  the  army,  and 
which,  if  some  reports  are  right,  some  members  labor  to 
establish.  If  we  would  pursue  a  right  system  of  policy, 

*  Dec.  26,  1777.  f  Washington  to  Bannister,  April  21. 


414  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

in  my  opinion,  there  should  be  none  of  these  distinctions. 
We  should  all,  Congress  and  army,  be  considered  as  one 
people,  embarked  in  one  cause,  in  one  interest,  acting  on 
the  same  principle,  to  the  same  end.  The  distinctions, 
the  jealousies  set  up,  or  perhaps  only  incautiously  let  out, 
can  answer  not  a  single  good  purpose.  They  are  impolitic 
in  the  extreme.  The  very  jealousy  which  the  narrow 
policy  of  some  may  affect  to  entertain  of  the  army,  in 
order  to  a  due  subordination  to  the  supreme  civil  authority, 
is  a  likely  means  to  produce  a  contrary  effect.  No  history 
now  extant  can  furnish  an  instance  of  an  army's  suffering 
such  uncommon  hardships  as  ours  has  done,  and  bearing 
them  with  the  same  patience  and  fortitude." 

All  history  shows  how  much  easier  it  is  to  engender 
suspicion  than  to  inspire  confidence,  and  when  the  former 
fails,  the  failure  best  proves  how  deserved  the  confidence 
is. 

The  sufferings  of  the  army  necessarily  gave  rise  to 
not  a  little  discontent.  The  powerful  motives  which  in- 
fluenced Washington  to  hold,  amid  such  exposure  and 
privation,  a  position  near  the  enemy,  might  not  be  duly 
estimated ;  and  the  cabal  supposed,  that  an  impression 
unfavorable  to  the  commander-in-chief  could  easily  be  ex- 
tended among  the  ranks. 

At  the  same  time,  to  win  them  to  favor  Congress,  in 
their  plot  to  elevate  Gates,  a  resolution  was  passed,  grant- 
ing to  each  soldier  in  laudatory  terms,  a  month's  extra 
pay,  as  earnest  of  future  liberality.  But  neither  artifice 
nor  favor  could  wean  their  affections  from  Washington. 
They  saw  his  labors  and  privations  ;  they  felt  his  solici- 
tude for  their  welfare  ;  they  gloried  in  the  courage  which 
had  often  borne  him  before  them  in  the  foremost  perils  of 
battle.  His  steadiness  they  regarded  as  their  surest  reli- 
ance, and  amid  every  trial  and  every  disappointment,  their 


JET.  21.]  HAMILTON. 

confidence  turned  towards  him,  using  an  expressive, 
familiar  epithet.* 

Though  the  army  could  not  be  seduced,  nor  the  great 
interests  of  the  country  be  sacrificed  by  this  cabal,  great 
injuries  resulted  from  it. 

La  Fayette  saw  the  mischief,  and  anxiously  deprecated 
the  dissensions  among  the  commissioners  abroad,  and  the 
contentions  at  home. 

It  may  be  seen,  that  the  same  persons  who  caused  the 
variances  among  the  public  agents  in  Europe,  degrading 
this  country  in  the  estimate  of  foreign  powers,  were 
members  of  this  cabal,  weakening  its  influence  and  jeop- 
arding its  interests  at  home.  They  caused  Europe  to 
pause  in  offices  of  friendship  to  the  United  States,  and 
created  a  distrust  in  the  United  States  of  the  aid  they 
were  in  want.  They  clamored  against  a  single  military 
chief  and  a  standing  army  as  dangerous  to  liberty  ;  and 
caused  the  danger,  by  insufficient  exertions  of  adequate 
power,  thus  producing  the  emergencies  that  created  the 
necessity  of  conferring  dictatorial  authority. 

This  attempt  to  unveil  the  counsels  of  the  secret  con- 
clave which  doomed  Washington  to  disgrace,  and,  if  suc- 
cessful, would,  in  all  probability,  have  reversed  the  revolu- 
tion, has  unavoidably  been  imperfect,  but  enough  of  truth 
is  gleaned  to  indicate  the  path  of  inquiry.  Sufficient  evi- 
dence exists  to  show,  that  while  Pennsylvania  was  chilled 
and  dissatisfied  under  the  immediate  presence  of  the 
enemy,  the  votes  of  Maryland,  of  North  Carolina,  and  of 
Georgia  divided  ;  his  native  Virginia  misrepresented  ;  the 
powerful  influence  of  New  England  marshalled  under 
adverse  leaders ;  that  New  York,  with  her  only  seaport 
in  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  her  temporary  seat  of  govern- 
ment and  her  mountain  fortresses  in  ashes,  bands  of  rob- 

*  "  The  old  lios," — the  old  horse. — Hint.  Collections  of  Virginia. 


4.16  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

bers  roaming  along  her  western  border,  her  frontier  people 
flying  in  pale  affright  from  Indian  barbarities,  just  relieved 
from  subjugation  by  the  capitulation  of  Burgoyne,  thus 
wounded,  suffering,  almost  exhausted,  maintained  all  her 
constancy  and  all  her  firmness. 

Justice  to  those  patriots  who  resisted  and  ultimately 
defeated  this  cabal,  would  seem  to  require  that  the  persons 
who  composed  it  should  be  indicated.  Bat  as  the  removal 
of  the  commander-in-chief  was  never  brought  to  a  direct 
question,  and  as  the  votes  on  several  of  the  prominent 
acts  are  not  recorded,  much  must  remain  in  uncertainty. 
Of  his  supporters  in  Congress,  Morris,  Duer  and  Carroll 
were  foremost.  Of  his  opponents,  the  Lees  and  the 
Adamses  were  regarded  as  the  most  conspicuous.*  As 
to  the  former,  the  allegation  has  been  denied,  and  of  the 
part  taken  by  John  Adams,  who  was  nominated  at  its 
height  a  commissioner  to  France,  but  partial  glimpses 
have,  until  recently,  been  caught. 

What  now  is  known  is  chiefly  derived  from  his  own 
writings  and  the  recent  narrative  of  his  life.  He  speaks 
of  himself,  when  arrived  at  manhood,  as  "  teacher  of  a 
grammar  school  in  Wooster,"  from  which  meritorious 
effort,  he  earned  "  a  loose  and  scanty  subsistence,  his 
compensation  little  above  that  of  a  common  day  laborer,"  f 
says,  that  he  had  thoughts  of  preaching,  but  was  deterred 
by  his  "  experience  of  that  order  of  men,  and  of  the  real 

*  Edward  Rutledge  to  John  Jay  :  "  I  fear,  with  some  reason,  that  a  d — d 
infamous  cabal  is  forming  against  our  commander-in-chief,  and  that  whenever 
they  find  themselves  strong  enough,  they  will  strike  an  important  blow.  Re- 
collect the  indirect  attempts  that  were  repeatedly  made  against  the  command 
and  reputation  of  poor  Schuyler,  and  the  fatal  stab  that  was  at  last  aimed  at 
both ;  and  let  us  be  taught  how  necessary  it  is  to  oppose  a  cabal  in  its  infancy. 
Were  it  in  my  power,  I  would  stifle  it  in  its  birth  Conway,  the  Lees,  and 
Adamses,  are  said  to  be  at  the  bottom  of  this,  besides  an  abundance  of  snakes 
that  are  concealed  in  the  grass  "  f  Works  of  Adams,  i.  22. 


-fix.  21.]  HAMILTON.  4^7 

design  of  that  institution."  *  He  then  prepared  himself  for 
the  profession  of  the  law,  in  which  he  was  somewhat  dis- 
tinguished. His  manners  at  this  period  of  his  life  he  thus 
describes,  "  I  have  insensibly  fallen  into  a  habit  of  affect- 
ing wit  and  humor,  of  shrugging  my  shoulders,  and 
moving,  distorting  the  muscles  of  my  face.  My  motions 
are  stiff  and  uneasy,  ungraceful,  and  my  attention  is 
unsteady  and  irregular."  f  These  peculiarities,  time  and 
care,  in  a  degree,  corrected.  Of  his  temper  he  states  a 
short  time  before  he  entered  Congress,  "  I  found  the  old 
warmth,  heat,  violence,  acrimony,  bitterness,  sharpness 
of  my  temper  and  expression,  was  not  departed."  J  Nor 
did  they  ever  depart. 

These  manners  and  qualities  were  little  suited  to  the 
courteous  suavity  of  the  gentry  of  the  middle  and  south- 
ern colonies  with  whom  he  was  called  to  act.  >'The 
man,"  he  said  of  himself,  "  who  has  no  better  government 
of  his  tongue,  no  more  command  of  his  temper,  is  unfit 
for  every  thing  but  children's  play,  and  the  company  of 
boys."  The  effect  was  soon  apparent.  But  the  defects 
of  his  character  were  deeper  than  he  had  either  discovered 
or  chose  to  disclose. 

Letters  written  by  him,  derogatory  to  a  leading  mem- 
ber of  that  body  who  had  eloquently  vindicated  the 
rights  of  the  colonies,  censuring  its  tardy  action,  and 
revealing  its  proceedings,  intercepted  by  the  enemy, 
came  back  upon  him  ;  and,  as  these  proceedings  were 
under  a  most  solemn  injunction  of  secrecy,  convicted  him 
of  a  gross  breach  of  faith.  The  day  after  these  letters 
were  received,  a  secret  committee  was  raised,  and  each 
colony  of  New  England  was  represented  in  it,  except 
Massachusetts^  He  had  previously  alienated  Hancock, 

*  Works  of  Adams,  i.  36.  f  Ibid  i.  47. 

J  Ibid.  ii.  308.  §Ibid.  i.  183. 

VOL.  I.— 27 


THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

he  now  incurred  the  lasting  contempt  and  hostility  of 
Dickinson,  and  became  an  object  of  general  "detesta- 
tion." *  His  overweening  love  of  self  never  forsook  him. 
When  beholding  the  departure  of  Washington,  Lee  and 
Schuyler,  "  for  the  American  camp  at  Boston,"  and  the 
honors  paid  to  them,  he  writes :  "  Such  is  the  pride  and 
pomp  of  war.  I,  poor  creature,  worn  out  with  scribbling 
for  my  bread  and  my  liberty,  low  in  spirits  and  weak  in 
health,  must  leave  others  to  wear  the  laurels  which  I 
have  sown,  others  to  eat  the  bread  which  I  have  earned, 
a  common  case."  f  A  member  of  Congress  from  South 
Carolina  J  writes  to  Washington,  then  at  the  head  of  the 
army  at  Cambridge,  pointing  to  John  Adams  :  "  One  of 
our  members  sets  out  to-day  for  New  England.  Whether 
his  intents  be  wicked  or  not,  I  doubt  much.  He  should  be 
watched"  Groundless  as  this  suspicion  was,  it  shows  the 
impression  he  had  made  on  the  minds  of  honorable 
men. 

His  opinions  as  to  the  policy  to  be  observed  in  respect 
to  the  army,  are  given  by  himself,  then  chairman  of  the 
Board  of  War.  "  I  am  much  at  a  loss  whether  it  would 
not  be  the  best  policy  to  leave  every  colony  to  raise  its 
own  troops,  to  clothe  them,  to  pay  them,  to  furnish  them 
with  tents,  and  indeed  with  every  thing  but  provisions, 
fuel  and  forage.  The  project  of  abolishing  provincial  dis- 
tinctions was  introduced  with  a  good  intention,  I  believe, 
at  first,  but,  I  think,  it  will  do  no  good  upon  the  whole."  § 

*  Dr.  Rush  states,  "  I  saw  this  gentleman  walk  the  streets  of  Philadelphia 
alone,  after  the  publication  of  his  intercepted  letters  in  our  newspapers,  in  1775, 
an  object  of  nearly  universal  scorn  and  detestation." — Adams'  Works,  ii.  518 — 
note. 

f  Letters  of  J.  Adams  to  Mrs.  Adams,  29. 

%  Adams'  Works,  i.  192.     Lynch  to  Washington. 

§  Adams  to  General  Greene — Adams'  Work*,  ix.  403.     June  22,  1776. 


•  J5r.  21.]  HAMILTON.  419 

And  as  to  the  appointment  of  officers,  he  wrote,  "  If  you 
leave  the  appointment  of  officers  to  the  general  or  to  the 
Ongross,  it  will  not  be  so  well  done  as  if  left  to  the 
assemblies."  *  Such  were  his  ideas  in  seventy-six. 
Another  year  shows  the  consummation  of  his  "  visionary 
notions."  f  "I  hope,  for  my  own  part,  that  Congress 
will  elect  annually  all  the  general  officers.  If  in  conse- 
quence of  this,  some  great  men  should  be  obliged  at  the 
year's  end  to  go  home  and  serve  their  country  in  some 
other  capacity,  not  less  necessary,  and  better  adapted  to 
their  genius,  I  do  not  think  the  public  would  be  ruined. 
Perhaps  it  would  be  no  harm."  J 

With  this  view  he  joined  warmly  in  the  plot  to  elevate 
Gates.  "  History  had  no  lesson  to  prompt  confidence  in 
'  Washington,'  and,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  full  of 
warnings.  In  this  light,  the  attempt,  whilst  organizing 
another  army  in  the  north,  to  raise  up  a  second  chief  as  a 
resource,  in  case  of  failure  with  the  first,  must  be  viewed 
as  a  measure,  not  without  much  precautionary  wisdom. 
The  conception,  probably,  belonged  to  Samuel  Adams, 
who,  in  the  absence  of  his  kinsman,  had  been  added  to 
the  Board  of  War ;  but  it  was  actively  promoted  by  both." 
Such  is  the  language  of  his  biographer.§  His  preference 
of  State  troops,  of  State  appointments  of  officers,  and  of 
"  annual  generals,"  show  the  bias  of  his  mind,  and  are  in 
accordance  with  an  opinion  soon  after  expressed.  "  Gov- 
ernment and  law  in  the  States,  large  taxation  and  strict 
discipline  in  our  armies,  are  the  only  things  wanting  as 
human  means."  ||  These  could  not  exist  without  govern- 
ment and  laws  pervading  the  whole  United  States.  This 
great  want,  and  only  remedy,  were  not  in  his  contempla- 
tion. 

*  Adams  to  Knox. — Hid.  i.  257.  f  Hamilton's  Works,  vii.  689. 

\  Adams'  Works,  i.  263.  §  Ibid  i.  265.  |  Ibid.  i.  268. 


420  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

A  principal  agency  in  this  cabal  is  truly  ascribed  to 
Samuel  Adams,  in  energy  and  steadiness  of  purpose  far 
the  superior  of  his  kinsman  ;  and  whose  early  services, 
zeal  and  proscription,  have  imparted  to  him  a  singular 
interest. 

Born  with  all  the  qualities  to  aid  in  subverting  an 
established  government,  this  determined  man  was  devoid 
of  those  necessary  to  build  one  up.  Proceeding  on  the 
principle  that  all  confidence  is  unsafe,  he  labored  to  con- 
fine the  powers  of  the  confederacy  within  the  narrowest 
limits,  and  opposed  with  obstinacy  every  effort  to  enlarge 
them. 

This  spirit  of  indiscriminate  distrust  darkened  all  his 
counsels,  and  was  combined  with  a  fanaticism  which  dis- 
regarded experience,  and  undervalued  human  agency. 
Thus,  in  the  most  alarming  periods  of  the  Revolution, 
when  the  condition  of  the  country  ought  to  have  un- 
chained his  mind,-^— while  he  cheered  the  hesitating  with 
reiterated  appeals  to  Providence,*  he  opposed  long  enlist- 
ments, from  an  apprehension  of  standing  armies,  and  con- 
tended for  a  rotation  in  command,  on  the  ground  that  if 
the  precedent  were  once  established,  "  no  military  chief- 

*  An  instance  of  this  kind  is  related  of  this  more  than  ordinary  man,  who 
led  on  the  hold  by  his  courage,  and  stirred  up  the  tranquil  by  his  arts  ;  and 
who,  though  himself  the  victim  of  superstition,  was  not  the  less  aware  how- 
deep  its  sources  spring  in  the  human  breast.  At  a  moment  when  Congress 
was  sitting  disheartened  nnd  hesitating,  the  arrival  of  a  vessel  with  military 
stores  from  France  was  announced.  Availing  himself  of  this  intelligence,  he 
arose  from  his  seat,  and  exclaiming  with  extended  arms — "  It  is  a  sign  from 
Heaven !  Providence, — Providence  is  on  our  side  ! "  dissipated  the  doubts  of 
those  around  him.  With  the  same  sublimated  feeling,  when  an  unlimited 
price  was  offered  him  by  an  agent  of  the  kinjr,  he  replied,  in -a  determined 
manner  :  "  I  trust  I  have  long  since  made  my  peace  with  the  King  of  kin^. 
No  personal  consideration  shall  induce  me  to  abandon  the  righteous  cause  of 
my  country.  Tell  Governor  Gage,  '  It  is  the  advice  of  Samuel  Adams  to  him 
to  insult  no  longer  the  feelings  of  an  exasperated  people.' '' 


.-Ei.  21.]  HAMILTON. 

tain  could  ever  take  a  flight  beyond  the  reach  of  ven- 
geance." 

With  these  doctrines,  he  swayed  for  a  time  the  coun- 
cils of  the  Congress  of  seventeen  hundred  and  seventy- 
seven,  which  he  characterized  "  as  the  smallest  but  truest 
Congress  they  ever  had."  He  had  succeeded  in  supplant- 
ing Schuyler  by  Gates,  and  meditated  a  similar  doom  to 
Washington. 

Other  views  were  entertained  of  this  Congress.  Gouv- 
erneur  Morris,  a  member  of  it,  writes  to  Jay :  "  The 
mighty  senate  of  America  is  not  what  you  have  known 
it."  Laurens,  its  President,  says,  *  "  a  most  shameful  de- 
ficiency in  this  branch  is  the  greatest  evil,  and  is,  indeed, 
the  source  of  almost  all  our  evils.  If  there  is  not  speedily 
a  resurrection  of  able  men,  and  of  that  virtue  which  I 
thought  to  be  genuine  in  seventy-five,  we  are  gone.  We 
shall  undo  ourselves."  "A  horrid  faction,"  Greene 
writes,f  "has  been  forming  to  ruin  his  Excellency,  and 
others.  Ambition,  how  boundless !  Ingratitude,  how  pre- 
valent!  See  upon  what  a  monstrous  principle,  the 
general  is  persecuted." 

A  similar  opinion  was  disclosed  by  Hamilton  to  Gov- 
ernor Clinton  in  these  earnest  terms:  J{ft4 

"  There  is  a  matter  which  often  obtrudes  itself  upon 
my  mind,  and  which  requires  the  attention  of  every 
person  of  sense  and  influence  among  us ,  I  mean  a 
degeneracy  of  representatioa  in  the  great  council  of 
America.  It  is  a  melancholy  truth,  sir^  the  effects  of 
which  we  daily  see,  and  feel,  that  |  there  is  not  so  much 
wisdom  in  a  certain  body  as  there  ought  to  be,  and  as  the 
success  of  our  affairs  absolutely  demands.  Many  mem- 
bers of  it  are,  no  doubt,  men  in  every  respect  fit  for  the 
trust;  but  this  cannot  be  said  of  it  as  a  body.  Folly. 

*  Jan.  27,  1778.  f  Feb-  7>  !778.  \  Feb.  13.  1778. 


THE    REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

caprice,  a  want  of  foresight,  comprehension  and  dignity, 
characterize  the  general  tenor  of  their  actions.  Of  this, 
I  dare  say,  you  are  sensible,  though  you  have  not  perhaps 
so  many  opportunities  of  knowing  it  as  I  have.  Their 
conduct,  with  respect  to  the  army  especially,  is  fickle, 
indecisive,  and  improvident ;  insomuch  that  we  are  re- 
duced to  a  more  terrible  situation  than  you  can  conceive. 
False  and  contracted  views  of  economy  have  prevented 
them,  though  repeatedly  urged  to  it,  from  making  that 
provision  for  officers,  which  was  requisite  to  interest  them 
in  the  service.  This  has  produced  such  carelessness  and 
indifference  to  the  service,  as  is  subversive  of  every 
officer-like  quality.  They  have  disgusted  the  army  by 
repeated  instances  of  the  most  whimsical  favoritism  in 
their  promotions ;  and  by  an  absurd  prodigality  of  rank 
to  foreigners,  and  to  the  meanest  staff  of  the  army. 
They  have  not  been  able  to  summon  resolution  enough  to 
withstand  the  impudent  importunity  and  vain  boasting  of 
foreign  pretenders ;  but  have  manifested  such  a  ductility 
and  inconstancy  in  their  proceedings,  as  will  warrant  the 
charge  of  suffering  themselves  to  be  bullied  by  every 
petty  adventurer  who  comes  armed  with  ostentatious 
pretensions  of  military  merit  and  experience.  Would 
you  believe  it,  sir  ?  it  is  become  almost  proverbial  in  the 
mouths  of  the  French  officers  and  other  foreigners,  that 
they  have  nothing  more  to  do,  to  obtain  whatever  they 
please,  than  to  assume  a  high  tone,  and  assert  their  own 
merit  with  confidence  and  perseverance.  These  things 
wound  my  feelings  as  a  republican  more  than  I  can 
express,  and  in  some  degree  make  me  contemptible  in  my 
own  eyes. 

"  America  once  had  a  representation  that  would  do 
honor  to  any  age  or  nation.  The  present  falling  off  is 
very  alarming  and  dangerous.  What  is  the  cause,  and 


^Ex.  21.1  HAMILTON.  423 

how  is  it  to  be  remedied  ?  are  questions  that  the  welfare 
of  these  States  requires  should  be  well  attended  to.  The 
great  men  who  composed  our  first  council, — are  they 
dead,  have  they  deserted  the  cause,  or  what  has  become 
of  them  ?  Very  few  are  dead,  and  still  fewer  have 
deserted  the  cause  ;  they  are  all,  except  the  few  who  still 
remain  in  Congress,  either  in  the  field  or  in  the  civil 
offices  of  their  respective  States ;  for  the  greater  part  are 
engaged  in  the  latter.  The  only  remedy  then  is,  to  take 
them  out  of  these  employments,  and  return  them  to  the 
place  where  their  presence  is  infinitely  more  important. 

"Each  State,  in  order  to  promote  its  own  internal 
government  and  prosperity,  has  selected  its  best  members 
to  fill  the  offices  within  itself,  and  conduct  its  own  affairs. 
Men  have  been  fonder  of  the  emoluments  and  conveni- 
ences of  being  employed  at  home  ;  and  local  attachment 
falsely  operating,  has  made  them  more  provident  for  the 
particular  interests  of  the  States  to  which  they  belonged, 
than  for  the  common  interests  of  the  confederacy.  This 
is  a  most  pernicious  mistake,  and  must  be  corrected. 
However  important  it  is  to  give  form  and  efficiency  to 
your  interior  constitutions  and  police,  it  is  infinitely  more 
important  to  have  a  wise  general  council ;  otherwise  a 
failure  of  the  measures  of  the  Union  will  overturn  all 
your  labors  for  the  advancement  of  your  particular  good, 
and  ruin  the  common  cause.  You  should  not  beggar  the 
councils  of  the  United  States  to  enrich  the  administration 
of  the  several  members.  Realize  to  yourselves  the  con- 
sequences of  having  a  Congress  despised  at  home  and 
abroad.  How  can  the  common  force  be  exerted,  if  the 
power  of  collecting  it  be  put  in  weak,  foolish  and  un- 
steady hands  ?  How  can  we  hope  for  success  in  our 
European  negotiations,  if  the  nations  of  Europe  have  no 
--onfidence  in  the  wisdom  and  vigor  of  the  great  conti- 


424  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

nental  government  ?  This  is  the  object  on  which  their 
eyes  are  fixed ;  hence  it  is,  America  will  derive  its  im- 
portance or  insignificance  in  their  estimation. 

"  You  and  I  had  some  conversation  when  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  seeing  you  last,  with  respect  to  the  existence 
of  a  certain  faction.  Since  I  saw  you,  I  have  discovered 
such  convincing  traits  of  the  monster,  that  I  cannot  doubt 
its  reality  in  the  most  extensive  sense.  I  dare  say  you 
have  seen  and  heard  enough  to  settle  the  matter  in  your 
own  mind.  I  believe  it  unmasked  its  batteries  too  soon, 
and  begins  to  hide  its  head ;  but  as  I  imagine  it  will  only 
change  the  storm  to  a  sap,  all  the  true  and  sensible 
friends  to  their  country,  and  of  course  to  a  certain  great 
man,  ought  to  be  upon  the  watch  to  counterplot  the  secret 
machinations  of  his  enemies." 


ir. 


CHAPTER    XV. 


THE  greater  the  lethargy  of  Congress,  the  more  earnest 
were  the  solicitations  of  Washington.  Yielding  to  these, 
and  to  the  necessity,  as  indicated  in  the  late  campaign,  of 
more  efficient  measures  for  the  organization  of  the  army, 
they  at  last  entered  effectively  upon  this  duty. 

Rarely,  indeed,  were  a  people  less  prepared  for  a 
contest  of  arms  than  the  American  colonists  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Revolution.  Without  either  soldiers,  gen- 
erals, or  engineers,  without  munitions*  or  a  knowledge  of 
war,  all  were  to  be  attained  by  exertion  or  experience, 
and  every  thing  to  be  surmounted  by  energy  or  fortitude. 

Of  the  few  who  had  reaped  military  information  in 
the  war  with  France,  Washington  was  the  only  American 
who  had  obtained  an  extensive  reputation.  Eminent  as 
were  the  soldierly  qualities  he  then  displayed,  his  experi- 
ence was  too  limited  to  entitle  him  to  the  chief  command  ; 
and  upon  the  large  scale  on  which  the  war  was  to  be 
conducted,  he  had  almost  all  its  science  to  learn. 

Philip  Schuyler,  known  as  Colonel  Schuyler,  was  the 
only  other  member  of  the  Congress  of  seventy-five  who 
had  any  pretensions  to  the  character  of  a  soldier.  The 

*  May  11,  1776.     The  lead  was  torn  from  the  roofs  of  the  Exchange  and 
City  Hall  for  bullets,  and  every  article  of  brass  taken  from  the  houses  in  N.  Y 


426  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

capacity  in  which  he  had  previously  served,  had  given 
him  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  civil  departments  of 
an  army,  but  beyond  this  his  attainments  did  not  extend. 
Such  other  information  as  he  possessed  were  the  acquisi- 
tions of  an  active  mind,  fruitful  in  resource,  and  of  great 
vigor.  To  them  the  arrangement  of  the  military  estab- 
lishment, as  has  been  stated,  was  confided  by  Congress. 
The  first  object  of  attention,  after  filling  the  general  staff, 
was  the  organization  of  the  militia.  All  the  inhabitants 
of  the  colonies  fit  for  duty,  as  related,  were  recom- 
mended to  form  military  associations,  one-fourth  of 
whom  were  to  be  minute  men,  distributed  into  battalions 
and  companies,  to  be  relieved  by  new  drafts,  after  a  tour 
of  four  months'  duty.  The  field  officers  were  to  be  ap- 
pointed by  the  conventions  of  the  respective  States. 
Those  of  each  company  to  be  elected  by  the  respective 
companies. 

Such  was  the  embryo  of  an  army  destined  to  win  the 
liberty  of  an  extensive  empire.  The  first  enlistments  un- 
der a  resolution  of  Congress,  were  of  "  expert  riflemen." 
In  the  form  of  the  enlistment  they  were  declared  to  be 
soldiers  in  "  The  American  continental  army."  The  term 
was  one  year.  In  the  commission  of  Washington  it  was 
designated  as  "  The  army  of  the  United  Colonies,"  and 
in  its  organization  it  assumed  the  simple  national  name  of 
"  The  American  army." 

In  the  autumn  of  that  year,  a  "  new  army  "  was  or- 
dered to  be  raised  of  twenty  thousand  three  hundred  and 
seventy-two  men  intended  to  lie  before  Boston.  The  num- 
ber of  each  of  the  twenty-eight  regiments  was  specified, 
to  be  organized  into  eight  companies,  each  with  four  com- 
missioned and  eight  non-commissioned  officers.  The  term 
of  the  enlistment  was  to  the  end  of  the  year  seventy- 
six.  The  previous  regulations  were  modified.  A  body  of 


^ET.  21.]  HAMILTON. 

five  thousand  more  was  directed  to  be  mustered  for  the 
protection  of  New  York  ;  and  nine  battalions  were  to  be 
raised  and  maintained  for  the  defence  of  Canada.  The 
field-officers  of  this  army  were  usually  recommended  by 
the  conventions  of  the  respective  Slates  in  which  the 
troops  were  raised,  and  were  elected  by  Congress.  For 
the  support  of  these  troops,  Washington  was  to  be  em- 
powered by  the  several  States  to  impress  whatever  might 
be  necessary,  and  was  authorized  to  call  forth,  according 
to  the  exigency  and  nature  of  the  service,  the  minute  men, 
or  militia. 

The  enlistments  under  this  arrangement  gave  little  as- 
surance of  success  in  creating  an  efficient  force.  The 
spirit  of  the  people  brought  them  into  the  field  upon  emer- 
gencies, but  there  were  few,  in  the  independent  condition 
of  the  colonists,  of  that  order  of  men  who  would,  of 
choice,  endure  the  privations  of  a  military  life,  augmented, 
as  they  were,  by  the  defects  of  a  new  and  very  imperfect 
establishment. 

The  prejudices  of  the  country  were  strong  against  any 
thing  in  the  shape  of  a  standing  army.  These  prejudices, 
and  the  hope  of  an  accommodation  with  Great  Britain, 
had  led  to  a  limitation  of  the  term  of  enlistment  to  one 
year.  The  militia,  upon  whom  the  chief  dependence  was 
placed,  were  in  vain  required  to  be  governed  by  the  arti- 
cles of  war.  The  power  conferred  upon  Washington  by 
Congress  of  calling  forth  the  militia  of  the  States — a 
power  limited  to  exigencies — was  regarded  with  such 
jealousy,  that  within  a  month  after  it  was  granted,  Con- 
gress found  it  necessary  to  declare,  that  it  was  only  to  be 
exerted  with  the  consent  of  the  colonial  authorities. 

During  the  ensuing  winter  more  effective  measures 
were  taken  ;  of  these,  the  division  of  the  colonies  into 
military  departments  was  among  the  first,  nor  did  it  prove 


428  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

to  be  the  wisest,  and  was  virtually  abandoned.  Those 
north  of  Virginia  were  to  compose  the  northern,  the  re- 
mainder the  southern,  while  from  a  desire  of  keeping  the 
operations  in  that  quarter  distinct,  Canada  formed  a  third 
department. 

The  hope  of  an  adjustment  with  Great  Britain  having 
ceased,  and  looking  to  independence,  Massachusetts  and 
Connecticut  were,  in  the  spring  of  seventy-six,  recom- 
mended by  Congress  to  endeavor  to  have  their  battalions 
enlisted  for  a  term  of  two  years.  New  York  being  men- 
aced, thirteen  thousand  eight  hundred  of  the  militia  of 
Massachusetts,  Connecticut,  New  York  and  New  Jersey, 
were  called  out  to  reinforce  the  army  there,  and  a  flying 
camp  of  ten  thousand  from  Pennsylvania,  Delaware  and 
Maryland,  was  ordered  to  be  immediately  established  in 
the  middle  colonies.  This  was  soon  followed  by  an  aug- 
mentation, to  the  number  of  four  thousand,  of  the  men 
destined  for  the  northern  department,  and  by  an  order  to 
enlist  a  regiment  of  riflemen  for  a  term  of  three  years, 
who  were  to  receive  a  bounty.  A  battalion  of  Germans 
was  also  to  be  raised,  together  with  a  small  body  of 
troops  for  the  defence  of  Georgia.  ^iCii^js.;- 

Wide  as  was  their  scope,  these  were  all  temporary 
expedients.  The  result  of  the  contest  on  Long  Island 
proved  the  little  reliance  to  be  placed  on  militia,  for  any 
other  purpose  than  as  occasional  auxiliaries. 

After  a  protracted  discussion  by  the  Board  of  War, 
Congress  on  the  sixteenth  of  September  of  the  same 
year,  in  the  moment  of  the  escape  of  the  army  from  im- 
minent perils,  resolved  that  eighty-eight  battalions  be  en- 
listed to  serve  during  the  war ;  that  a  money  bounty  be 
offered,  and  a  grant  of  land  to  those  serving  until  its  close. 
The  appointment  of  all,  except  general  officers,  was  to  be 
left  to  the  government  of  the  several  States,  though  the 


^Ex.  21.]  HAMILTON.  429 

commissions  were  to  proceed  from  Congress  ;  and  to  each 
State  was  confided  the  provision  of  arms,  clothing,  and 
every  necessary  for  its  quota.  Soon  after,  more  efficient 
articles  of  war  were  published.  The  general  power 
granted  to  Washington  at  the  end  of  the  year,*  to  raise 
and  maintain  a  force  of  sixteen  additional  battalions  of 
infantry,  three  thousand  light-horse,  and  a  corps  of  en- 
gineers ;  and  to  displace  and  appoint  officers  under  the 
rank  of  brigadier,  has  been  alluded  to.  The  grant  of 
juch  powers  indicates  the  defects  of  the  arrangement 
which  had  been  made,  and  the  great  necessity  of  an  or- 
ganized, pervading  vigorous  system. 

The  troops  raised  under  the  new  arrangement  were 
few,  the  progress  of  discipline  slow.  The  interferences 
of  Congress  were  frequent.  Their  measures  without 
method.  Insubordination  was  the  inevitable  consequence. 
So  prone  was  the  disposition  to  question  his  authority, 
that  Washington  found  it  necessary,  through  the  medium 
of  General  Greene,  to  obtain  a  declaration  of  Congress, 
that  it  never  had  been  their  intention  that  the  commander- 
in-chief  should  be  bound  by  the  decision  of  a  council  of 
war.  Congressional  favoritism  had  also  been  followed 
by  its  baneful  consequences. 

In  despite  of  all  this,  the  high  military  qualifications  of 
the  American  people  were  conspicuously  exhibited.  In- 
ferior to  their  enemy  in  discipline ;  in  quickness  of  evolu- 
tion, rapidity  and  certainty  of  fire,  the  American  soldiers 
were  far  their  superiors,  in  courage  their  equals,  in  pa- 
tient endurance  of  privations  they  could  not  be  surpassed. 
Discipline  and  system  were  the  great  wants  of  the  army. 
Much  had  been  gained  to  its  science  by  the  accessions  of 
foreign  officers.  The  bright  spirit  of  the  gallant,  generous 
Frenchman  had  beamed  forth  in  La  Fayette,  but  in  the 


*  Dec.  27.  1776. 


4:30  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

gifted  De  Noailles,  the  accomplished  soldier  Du  Portail,  La 
Radiere,  Custine,  Fleury,  Du  Plessis,  the  Armands  and 
Ternant,  mostly  all  noblemen  of  France,  were  seen  quali- 
ties rarely  excelled — even  among  a  people  unsurpassed  in 
the  art  of  war.  Poland  was  also  represented  in  the  battle 
fields  of  American  liberty  by  Kosciusko  and  Pulaski. 

In  respect  to  the  latter,  Hamilton  addressing  Congress, 
over  the  signature  of  Washington,  remarked :  "  As  the 
principal  attention  in  Poland  has  been,  for  some  time  past, 
paid  to  the  cavalry,  it  is  to  be  presumed  this  gentleman  is 
not  unacquainted  with  it.  He,  we  are  told,  has  been,  like 
us,  engaged  in  defending  the  liberty  and  independence  of 
his  country  ;  and  has  sacrificed  his  fortune  to  his  zeal  for 
those  objects.  He  derives  from  hence  a  title  to  our  re- 
spect, that  ought  to  operate  in  his  favor  as  far  as  the  good 
of  the  service  will  permit ;  but  it  can  never  be  expected 
we  should  lose  sight  of  this." 

The  merits  of  these  individuals  were  soon  appreciated, 
and  those  who  survived  the  contest  retired  from  this 
country  distinguished  with  every  mark  of  respect. 

But  in  the  promotion  of  foreigners  the  good  of  the 
service  had  often  been  little  regarded.  Indiscreet  recom- 
mendations had  been  given,  and  overweening  pretensions 
made  and  gratified.  The  resulting  embarrassments  were 
many  and  serious.  In  addition  to  the  disgust  created  in 
the  minds  of  the  American  officers,  finding  themselves 
postponed  to  men,  their  inferiors  in  character  and  talent, 
the  army  was  embroiled  by  a  series  of  petty  intrigues,  to 
secure  the  advancement  of  individuals. 

Gates  had  early  complained  of  American  illiberality,* 
the  French  adventurers  insisted  upon  preferment.  Soon 

*  Gates  to  Lee,  Feb.  26,  1776:  "Little  Eustace  is  well,  but  nothing  is 
done  for  him  yet.  You  know  the  more  than  Scotch  partiality  of  these  folks." 
—C.  Lee's  Memoirs.  205. 


;ET.  21.]  HAMILTON.  431 

after  Kami! ten  entered  Washington's  staff,  he  disclosed  to 
Duer,  in  Congress,  the  embarrassments  they  caused  : 

"  The  bearer  of  this  is  Mr.  Malmedi,  a  French  gentle- 
man of  learning,  abilities,  and  experience.  I  believe  he 
thinks  himself  entitled  to  preferment,  and  comes  to  Con- 
gress for  that  purpose. 

"  At  the  recommendation  of  General  Lee,  he  was 
made  brigadier-general  by  the  State  of  Rhode  Island,  and 
filled  the  station  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  employers,  as 
appears  by  a  letter  from  Governor  Cook,  speaking  of  him 
in  the  highest  terms  of  approbation. 

"  This  had  led  him  to  hope  that  he  would  be  adopted 
by  the  continent  on  an  equal  footing.  But  in  this  he  will 
no  doubt  be  mistaken,  as  there  are  many  insuperable  ob- 
jections to  such  a  measure. 

"  Among  others,  it  would  tend  to  raise  the  expectations 
of  the  Frenchmen,  in  general  already  too  high,  to  a  pitch 
which  it  would  be  impossible  to  gratify  or  endure.  It 
might  not,  however,  be  amiss  to  do  whatever  propriety 
would  warrant  to  keep  him  in  good  humor,  as  he  is  a  man 
of  sense  and  merit. 

"  I  think  policy  would  justify  the  advancing  him  a  step 
higher  than  his  former  continental  rank. 

"  Congress,  in  the  beginning,  went  upon  a  very  injudi- 
cious plan  with  respect  to  Frenchmen.  To  every  adven- 
turer that  came,  without  even  the  shadow  of  credentials, 
they  gave  the  rank  of  field  officers.  This  circumstance, 
seconding  the  aspiring  disposition  natural  to  those  people, 
carried  the  expectations  of  those  who  really  had  any  pre- 
tensions to  the  character  of  officers,  to  such  a  length,  that 
exceeded  all  the  bounds  of  moderation.  As  it  was  im- 
possible to  pursue  this  impolitic  plan,  the  Congress  have 
begun  to  retrench  their  excessive  liberality  ;  and  the  con- 
sequence has  been  universal  disgust  and  discontent. 


432  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

"It  would  perhaps  be  injurious,  as  the  French  air^ 
much  addicted  to  national  punctilio,  to  run  into  the  oppo- 
site extreme  to  that  first  embraced,  and  by  that  mean 
create  a  general  elamor  and  dissatisfaction.  Policy  sug- 
gests the  propriety  of  discriminating  a  few  of  the  most 
deserving,  and  endeavoring  to  keep  them  in  temper,  even 
by  gratifying  them  beyond  what  they  can  reasonably  pre- 
tend to.  This  will  enable  us  to  shake  off  the  despicable 
part  with  safety,  and  to  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  the  exorbitant 
demands  of  the  many.  It  will  be  easily  believed  in 
France  that  their  want  of  merit  occasioned  their  want  of 
success,  from  the  extraordinary  marks  of  favor  that  have 
been  conferred  on  others ;  whereas,  the  united  voice  of 
complaint  from  the  whole,  might  make  ill  impressions  in 
their  own  country,  which  it  is  not  our  interest  should 
exist. 

"  We  are  already  greatly  embarrassed  with  the  French- 
men among  us,  and  from  the  genius  of  the  people,  shall 
continue  to  be  so.  It  were  to  be  wished  that  our  agents 
in  France,  instead  of  courting  them  to  come  out,  were  in- 
structed to  give  no  encouragement,  but  where  they  could 
not  help  it ;  that  is,  where  applications  were  made  to  them 
by  persons  countenanced  and  supported  by  great  men 
whom  it  would  be  impolitic  to  disoblige.  Be  assured,  sir, 
we  shall  never  be  able  to  satisfy  them,  and  they  can  be  of 
no  use  to  us,  at  least  for  some  time.  Their  ignorance  of 
our  language,  of  the  disposition  of  the  people,  the  resources 
and  deficiencies  of  the  country,  their  own  habits  and  tem- 
pers,—all  these  are  disqualifications  that  put  it  out  of  their 
power  to  be  of  real  use  or  service  to  us.  You  will  con- 
sider what  I  have  said  as  entirely  my  own  sentiments,  and 
believe  me  to  be  with  regard." 

Though  it  was  the  policy  of  the  cabal  to  foster  these 
men,  who,  finding  Washington  unwilling  to  promote  their 


^ET.  21.]  HAMILTON.  43^ 

views  at  the  sacrifice  of  the  public  interests,  became  its 
active  instruments,  yet  when  its  power  declined,  Con- 
gress passed  a  resolution  to  check  the  evil. 

Amid  the  various  objects  of  moment  which  occupied 
his  mind,  Washington's  temper  could  ill  brook  the  impor- 
tunities with  which  he  was  continually  beset ;  and  he  was 
occasionally  drawn  into  expressions  of  opinion  which 
were  readily  seized  upon,  and  made  the  subject  of  un- 
pleasant comments.  His  objection  was  not  to  meritorious, 
useful  men,  but  "  to  adventurers,"  as  Hamilton  expressed 
it.  "These  men,"  Washington  wrote  to  Richard  Henry 
Lee,  "  have  no  attachment  nor  ties  to  the  country,  further 
than  interest  binds  them ;  they  have  no  influence,  and  are 
ignorant  of  the  language  they  are  to  receive  and  give 
orders  in  ;  consequently  great  trouble  or  much  confusion 
must  follow."  "Our  officers  think  it  exceedingly  hard, 
after  they  have  toiled  in  this  service,  and  probably  have 
sustained  many  losses,  to  have  strangers  put  over  them, 
whose  merit  is  not  equal  to  their  own,  but  whose  effron- 
tery will  take  no  denial."  "  I  am  haunted  and  teased  to 
death  by  the  importunity  of  some,  and  dissatisfaction  of 
others."  The  exception  is  his  vindication.  "  My  ideas,* 
in  this  representation,  do  not  extend  to  artillery  officers 
and  engineers.  The  first  of  these  will  be  useful  if  they 
do  not  break  in  upon  the  arrangement  of  that  corps  al- 
ready established  by  order  of  Congress  ;  the  second  are 
absolutely  necessary,  and  not  to  be  had  here."  f 

Another  source  of  difficulty,  and  one  productive  of 
the  most  serious  inconveniences,  especially  when,  viewed 
in  connection  with  the  preceding  topic,  was  the  imperfect 
condition  of  the  regiments. 

*  Washington's  Writings,  iv.,  424. 

f  They  came,  "  loaded  with  debts,  and  rained  at  home  in  reputation." — 
Abbe  Hobin's  Narrative. 

VOL.  I.— 28 


434  TIIE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

The  field  officers  in  commission  were  so  numerous, 
that  adequate  commands  were  in  vain  sought  to  be  pro- 
vided for  them.  It  became  necessary  to  combine  selections 
from  different  corps ;  whence  arose  another  difficulty, — 
the  appointment  of  officers  from  one  State,  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  troops  of  another. 

To  remedy  these  defects — to  devise  a  plan  for  the  re- 
duction of  the  regiments — to  regulate  rank,  and  to  intro- 
duce system  into  the  civil  departments  of  the  army,  were 
the  first  objects  which  the  commander-in-chief  desired  to 
accomplish,  and  which  he  pressed  upon  the  attention  of 
Congress  with  unremitting  solicitude. 

To  aid  these  designs,  within  a  short  time  after  the 
army  had  taken  up  their  winter-quarters,  the  committee 
appointed  for  that  purpose  repaired  to  camp. 

On  the  twenty-eighth  of  January,  a  paper  was  submit- 
ted to  them,  giving  a  general  outline  of  the  defects  in, 
and  proposing  amendments  to,  the  existing  arrangements. 
This  production  was  digested  with  great  labor,  and  bears 
marks  of  the  most  studied  precision  of  language,  and  of 
a  most  careful  arrangement  of  its  parts.  Its  details  had, 
doubtless,  been  well  considered  by  Washington  and  others. 
But  from  two  successive  drafts  in  his  handwriting,  upon 
which  are  seen  minute  notes  of  reference  to  the  heads  of 
the  different  departments  of  the  army,  the  paper,  as  com- 
pleted, is  manifestly  the  work  of  Hamilton. 

The  primary  measure  suggested  in  this  plan  was  "  a 
half-pay  and  pensionary  establishment,"  a  measure  indi- 
cated by  principles  of  justice,  "  by  the  frequent  resigna- 
tions daily  happening,  and  the  more  frequent  importunities 
for  permission  to  resign,  and  from  some  officers  of  the 
greatest  merit."  The  next  consideration  was,  "  the  com- 
pleting the  regiments  and  altering  their  establishment." 
The  failure  to  enlist  by  bounties  indicated  the  necessity 


^ET.  21.]  HAMILTON.  435 

of  a  resort  to  some  other  method.  The  mode  proposed, 
though  "  a  disagreeable  alternative,"  yet  deemed  "  una- 
voidable," was  "  by  drafts  from  the  militia."  As  drafting 
for  the  war,  or  for  a  term  of  years,  would  probably  be 
disgusting  and  dangerous,  an  annual  draft  of  men  was 
recommended.  On  or  before  a  specified  day,  these  draft- 
ed men  were  to  be  invited  to  re-enlist,  and  as  an  induce- 
ment, a  bounty  was  offered. 

"  A  new  establishment  of  the  regiments "  was  next 
proposed,  omitting  the  rank  of  full  colonels,  for  the  reason 
that  the  enemy  had  none ;  and  inconveniences  in  the  ex- 
change of  prisoners  would  thus  be  avoided.  The  number 
of  company  officers  was  also  to  be  reduced.  An  aug- 
mentation of  the  cavalry  was  recommended,  and  its  es- 
tablishment stated.  The  next  topic  was,  "  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  army."  The  troops  from  North  Carolina 
were  to  be  consolidated,  and  were  either  to  join  the  main 
army,  or  to  aid  South  Carolina  or  Virginia.  The  induce- 
ment to  recommend  this  measure  was  stated  to  be  "  the 
possibility  of  the  enemy's  attempting  a  more  southern  ex- 
pedition the  next  campaign."  "  This  they  may  do,"  it  was 
observed,  "  in  order  to  gain  possession  of  the  capital  of  an- 
other State,  which  will  give  reputation  to  their  arms  in 
Europe,  distress  our  trade,  and  abridge  our  supplies  ;  at 
the  same  time  will  enable  ADMINISTRATION,  in  another  in- 
stance, to  avail  themselves  of  the  illusory  idea  they  en- 
deavor to  hold  up  to  the  nation — to  keep  its  hopes  alive, 
and  extract  fresh  contributions — that  every  State,  whose 
capital  is  possessed,  is  conquered." 

An  exposition  follows  of  the  probable  contributions  in 
men  by  the  respective  States.  The  result  anticipated 
was, — that  the  establishment  would  consist  of  eighty  bat- 
talions, amounting,  if  complete,  rank  and  file,  to  forty 
thousand  three  hundred  and  twenty.  Plans  for  the  artil- 


436  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

lery  and  for  the  engineers  were  also  proposed.  The  pay 
department  of  the  army  was  stated  to  be  well  conducted, 
and  pertinent  comments  were  made  on  the  importance  of 
punctuality  in  payments  of  the  troops  as  affecting  them, 
the  public  credit,  and  the  state  of  the  currency.  Provi- 
sion for  prisoners  of  war  liberated  on  parole  is  suggested  ; 
and  modifications  of  the  articles  of  war  advised,  espe- 
cially to  ensure  a  gradation  of  punishments.  This  impor- 
tant communication  closed  with  an  admonition,  that,  "  un- 
less effectual  remedies  be  applied  without  loss  of  time,  the 
most  alarming  and  ruinous  consequences  are  to  be  appre- 
hended." 

While  these  several  suggestions  were  under  consider- 
ation, the  immediate  supplies  necessary  to  the  army  were 
of!  most  urgent  moment.  To  one  individual,  Hamilton 
writes,  in  behalf  of  Washington  :  "  A  prospect  now  opens 
«rf  absolute  want,  such  as  will  make  it  impossible  to  keep 
the  army  much  longer  from  dissolution,  unless  the  most 
rigorous  and  effectual  measures  be  pursued  to  prevent 
it."  "  If  every  possible  exertion  is  not  made  use  of  to 
send  us  immediate  and  ample  supplies  of  cattle,  with  pain 
Ispeak  the  alarming  truth,  no  human  efforts  can  keep  the 
army  from  disbanding;"  A  week  after,  he  wrote  to  Gov- 
ernor Clinton  :  "  For  some  days  past  there  has  been  little 
less  than  a  famine  in  the  camp.  A  part  of  the  army  has 
been  a  week  without  any  kind  of  flesh,  and  the  rest  three 
OF  four  days.  Naked  and  starving  as  they  are,  we  cannot 
enough  admire  the  incomparable  patience  and  fidelity  of 
the  soldiery,  that  they  have  not  been,  ere  this,  excited  by 
their  sufferings  to  a  general  mutiny  and  dispersion. 
Strong  symptoms,  however,  of  discontent  have  appeared 
in  particular  instances,  and  nothing  but  active  effort  every 
where  can  long  avert  so  shocking  a  catastrophe.  Our 
present  sufferings  are  not  all.  There  is  no  foundation  laid 


jRf.  21.]  HAMILTON.  437 

for  any  adequate  relief  hereafter.  What  a  terrible  crisis 
must  ensue,  unless  all  the  energy  of  the  continent  is  ex- 
erted to  provide  a  timely  remedy !  "  In  terms  similar  to 
these,  other  States  were  called  upon,  "  but  nothing  less 
than  a  change  in  the  system,"  it  was  observed,  *'  can  effect, 
a  radical  cure  of  the  evils  we  labor  under  at  present." 
While  such  invocations  were  made  to  rescue  the  army 
from  dissolution,  officers  were  sent  out  to  obtain  supplies, 
and  to  collect  clothing — Tilghman  in  one  direction,  Lee 
in  another.  In  the  mean  time  a  new  plan  of  the  quarter- 
master-general's department  was  framed.  Instead  of  the 
four  branches  into  which  it  had  been  subdivided,  without 
due  subordination,  one  quartermaster-general  and  two 
assistants  were  recommended.  This  important  place,  it 
has  been  stated,  was  accepted  by  General  Greene.  Schuy- 
ler  was  proposed  by  the  committee  in  camp  as  commis- 
sary-general of  purchases,  and  his  appointment  was  ar- 
dently desired  by  Washington,  but  the  party  of  Gates 
was  against  him.  At  the  instance  of  this  committee,  Jer- 
emiah Wadsworth,  a  man  of  great  vigor,  talent,  and  inde- 
pendence of  character,  was  appointed  ;  and  though,  at  an 
immense  expense,  the  soldiers  were,  in  a  measure,  relieved 
from  the  sufferings  so  long  and  vainly  deplored. 

An  important  result  was  also  attained  by  the  adoption 
of  a  new  plan  of  inspectorship,  an  office,  the  creation  of 
which  had  been  submitted  by  Washington  some  time  be- 
fore to  the  deliberations  of  a  council  of  war. 

This  place  had  recently  been  conferred  upon  the 
Baron  Steuben,  a  soldier  of  distinguished  merit,  who 
had  learned  the  art  of  war  under  the  eye  of  the  great 
Frederick  of  Prussia,  and  had  been  induced  by  the  Count 
St.  Germains  to  visit  the  United  States  as  a  person  most 
competent  to  organize  an  army.  The  value  of  his  ser- 
vices was  soon  seen  in  the  improved  discipline  of  the 


438  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778 

army,  in  the  control  of  the  detached  commands,  and  in 
the  regulation  of  the  jarring  duties  of  the  officers.  In  its 
outset  this  appointment  was  not  free  from  difficulty.  The 
undefined  duties  of  the  office  gave  rise  to  great  dissatis- 
faction among  the  officers,  and  frequent  embarrassment 
to  the  commander-in-chief,  indicating  the  necessity  of  re- 
trenching the  authority  which,  in  their  jealousy  of  Wash- 
ington, and  from  a  desire  to  lavish  on  their  favorite  extra- 
ordinary powers,  the  hostile  party  had  conferred  upon 
Conway. 

To  effect  this  object  in  a  manner  which  would  avoid 
compromitting  the  general,  Hamilton  addressed  the  fol- 
lowing letter  to  his  friend  Duer  : 

"  I  take  the  liberty  to  trouble  you  with  a  few  hints  on 
a  matter  of  some  importance.  Baron  Steuben,  who  will 
be  the  bearer  of  this,  waits  on  Congress  to  have  his  office 
arranged  upon  some  decisive  and  permanent  footing.  It 
will  not  be  amiss  to  be  on  your  guard.  The  baron  is  a 
gentleman  for  whom  I  have  a  particular  esteem,  and 
whose  zeal,  intelligence,  and  success,  the  consequence  of 
both,  entitle  him  to  the  greatest  credit.  But  I  am  appre- 
hensive, with  all  his  good  qualities,  a  fondness  for  power 
and  importance,  natural  to  every  man,  may  lead  him  to 
wish  for  more  extensive  prerogatives  in  his  department, 
than  it  will  be  for  the  good  of  the  service  to  grant.  I 
should  be  sorry  to  excite  any  prejudice  against  him  on 
this  account ;  perhaps  I  may  be  mistaken  in  my  conjec- 
ture. The  caution  I  give  will  do  no  harm,  if  I  am  ;  if  I 
am  not,  it  may  be  useful.  In  either  case,  the  baron  de- 
serves to  be  considered  as  a  valuable  man,  and  treated 
with  all  the  deference  which  good  policy  will  warrant. 

"On  the  first  institution  of  this  office,  the  general 
allowed  him  to  exercise  more  ample  powers  than  would 
be  proper  for  a  continuance.  They  were  necessary  in 


JEx.  21.]  HAMILTON.  439 

the  commencement,  to  put  things  in  a  train,  with  a  de- 
gree of  despatch  which  the  exigency  of  our  affairs  re- 
quired ;  but  it  has  been  necessary  to  restrain  them,  even 
earlier  than  was  intended.  The  novelty  of  the  office 
excited  questions  about  its  boundaries ;  the  extent  of  its 
operations  alarmed  the  officers  of  every  rank  for  their 
own  rights.  Their  jealousies  and  discontents  were  rising 
fast  to  a  height  that  threatened  to  overturn  the  whole 
plan.  It  became  necessary  to  apply  a  remedy.  The 
general  has  delineated  the  functions  of  the  inspectorship  in 
general  orders,  a  copy  of  which  will  be  sent  to  Congress. 
The  plan  is  good,  and  satisfactory  to  the  army  in  general. 
"  It  may  be  improved,  but  it  will  be  unsafe  to  deviate 
essentially  from  it.  It  is,  of  course,  the  general's  inten- 
tion that  whatever  regulations  are  adopted  by  him  should 
undergo  the  revision,  and  receive  the  sanction  of  Con- 
gress ;  but  it  is  indispensable,  in  the  present  state  of  our 
army,  that  he  should  have  the  power,  from  time  to  time, 
to  introduce  and  authorize  the  reformations  necessary  in 
our  system.  It  is  a  work  which  must  be  done  by  occa- 
sional and  gradual  steps,  and  ought  to  be  entrusted  to  a 
person  on  the  spot,  who  is  thoroughly  acquainted  with  all 
our  defects,  and  has  judgment  sufficient  to  adopt  the  pro- 
gressive remedies  they  require.  The  plan  established  by 
Congress,  on  a  report  of  the  Board  of  War,  when  Con- 
way  was  appointed,  appears  to  me  exceptionable  in  many 
respects.  It  makes  the  inspector  independent  of  the 
commander-in-chief ;  confers  powers  which  would  produce 
universal  opposition  in  the  army,  and,  by  making  the 
previous  concurrence  of  the  Board  of  War  requisite  to 
the  introduction  of  every  regulation  which  should  be 
found  necessary,  opens  such  a  continual  source  of  delay 
as  would  defeat  the  usefulness  of  the  institution.  Let  the 
commandcr-in-chief  introduce,  and  the  legislature  after- 


440  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

wards  ratify  or  reject,  as  they  shall  think  proper.  Per- 
haps you  will  not  differ  much  from  me,  when  I  suppose, 
that  so  far  as  relates  to  the  Board  of  War,  the  former 
scheme  was  a  brat  of  faction,  and  therefore  ought  to  be 
renounced. 

"There  is  one  thing  which  the  baron  has  much  at 
heart,  which,  in  good  policy,  he  can  by  no  means  be  in- 
dulged in : — it  is  the  power  of  enforcing  that  part  of  dis- 
cipline, which  we  understand  by  subordination,  or  an 
obedience  to  orders.  This  power  can  only  be  properly 
lodged  with  the  commander-in-chief,  and  would  inflame 
the  whole  army  if  put  into  other  hands.  Each  captain  is 
vested  with  it  in  his  company, — each  colonel  in  his  regi- 
ment,—each  general  in  his  particular  command, — and  the 
commander-in-chief  in  the  whole. 

"  When  I  began  this  letter  I  did  not  intend  to  meddle 
with  any  other  subject  than  the  inspectorship ;  but  one 
just  comes  into  my  head,  which  appears  to  me  of  no  small 
importance.  The  goodness  or  force  of  an  army  depends 
as  much,  perhaps  more,  on  the  composition  of  the  corps 
which  form  it,  as  on  its  collective  number.  The  composi- 
tion is  good  or  bad,  not  only  according  to  the  quality  of 
the  men,  but  in  proportion  to  the  completeness  or  incom- 
pleteness of  a  corps  in  respect  to  numbers.  A  regiment, 
for  instance,  with  a  full  complement  of  officers,  and  fifty 
or  sixty  men,  is  not  half  so  good  as  a  company  with  the 
same  number  of  men.  A  colonel  will  look  upon  such  a 
command  as  unworthy  his  ambition,  and  will  neglect  and 
despise  it ; — a  captain  would  pride  himself  in  it,  and  take 
all  the  pains  in  his  power  to  bring  it  to  perfection.  In 
one  case,  we  shall  see  a  total  relaxation  of  discipline,  and 
negligence  of  every  thing  that  constitutes  military  excel- 
lence ;  on  the  other,  there  will  be  attention,  energy,  and 
every  thing  that  can  be  wished.  Opinion,  whether  well 


Mt.  21.]  HAMILTON. 

or  ill  founded,  is  the  governing  principle  of  human  affairs. 
A  corps  much  below  its  establishment,  comparing  what  it 
is,  with  what  it  ought  to  be,  loses  all  confidence  in  itself, 
and  the  whole  army  loses  that  confidence  and  emulation 
which  are  essential  to  success.  These,  and  a  thousand 
other  things  that  will  occur  to  you,  make  it  evident,  that 
the  most  important  advantages  attend  the  having  com- 
plete corps,  and  proportional  disadvantages,  the  reverse. 
Ten  thousand  men,  distributed  into  twenty  imperfect 
regiments,  will  not  have  the  efficiency  of  the  same 
number,  in  half  the  number  of  regiments.  The  fact  is, 
with  respect  to  the  American  army,  that  the  want  of 
discipline,  and  other  defects  we  labor  under,  are  as  much 
owing  to  the  skeleton  state  of  our  regiments,  as  to  any 
other  cause. — What  then  ? 

"  Have  we  any  prospect  of  filling  our  regiments  1 
My  opinion  is,  that  we  have  nearly  arrived  to  our  ne  plus 
ultra.  If  so,  we  ought  to  reduce  the  number  of  corps, 
and  give  them  that  substance  and  consistency  which  they 
want,  by  incorporating  them  together,  so  as  to  bring  them 
near  their  establishment.  By  this  measure,  the  army 
would  be  infinitely  improved,  and  the  state  would  be 
saved  the  expense  of  maintaining  a  number  of  super- 
fluous officers. 

"  In  the  present  condition  of  our  regiments,  they  are 
incapable  even  of  performing  their  common  exercises 
without  joining  two  or  more  together, — an  expedient 
reluctantly  submitted  to  by  those  officers  who  see  them- 
selves made  second  in  command  of  a  battalion,  instead 
of  first,  as  their  commission  imports,  which  happens  to 
every  younger  colonel  whose  regiment  is  united  with  that 
of  an  elder. 

"What  would  be  the  inconveniences,  while  the  officers 
who  remain  in  command,  and  who  might  be  selected 


442  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

from  the  others  on  account  of  superior  merit,  would 
applaud  themselves  in  the  preference  given  them,  and 
rejoice  at  a  change  which  confers  such  additional  conse- 
quence on  themselves  ? 

"  Those  who  should  be  excluded  by  the  measure,  would 
return  home  discontented,  and  make  a  noise,  which  would 
soon  subside  and  be  forgotten  among  matters  of  greatei 
moment.  To  quiet  them  still  more  effectually,  if  it  should 
be  thought  necessary,  they  might  be  put  upon  half-pay 
for  a  certain  time. 

"  If  on  considering  this  matter,  you  should  agree  with 
me  in  sentiment,  it  were  to  be  wished  the  scheme  could 
be  immediately  adopted,  while  the  arrangement  now  in 
hand  is  still  unexecuted.  If  it  is  made,  it  will  be  rather 
inconvenient  immediately  after  to  unhinge  and  throw  the 
whole  system  again  afloat. 

"  When  you  determined  on  your  last  arrangement,  you 
did  not  know  what  success  the  different  States  might 
have  had  in  drafting  and  recruiting.  It  would  then  have 
been  improper  to  reduce  the  number  of  corps,  as  pro- 
posed. We  have  now  seen  their  success ;  we  have  no 
prospect  of  seeing  the  regiments  filled ; — we  should  re- 
duce them. 

"  Believe  me  to  be,  with  great  esteem  and  regard,"  &c. 

The  measures  here  suggested  were  frequently  brought 
under  the  consideration  of  Congress,  and  various  steps 
were  taken  to  remedy  the  evil ;  but  the  reduction  of  the 
army  required  great  deliberation,  in  a  war  where  too 
often  the  caprices  of  individuals  were  unavoidably  more 
consulted,  than  the  public  interest. 

The  proposed  limitation  of  the  office  of  inspector- 
general  was  made,  and  among  his  papers  a  draft  of  a 
plan  for  that  department  of  the  army,  exists  in  Hamil- 
ton's handwriting.  It  was  proposed  to  Congress  by 


M-r.  21.]  HAMILTON.  443 

General  Washington,  in  lieu  of  the  system  which  had 
been  framed  in  seventy-seven,  and  was  adopted  in  part 
on  the  fifth  of  May,  seventy-eight. 

This  plan  proposed  the  establishment  of  one  inspec- 
tor-general, six  deputy  inspectors-general,  and  one  in- 
spector to  each  brigade  ;  defined  the  duties  of  the  office, 
rendering  it  subordinate  to  Congress,  to  the  board  of  war, 
and  to  the  commander-in-chief,  at  the  head  of  which  it 
was  proposed  to  place  Baron  Steuben,  and  also  to  intro- 
duce into  it  General  Cadwallader  and  Colonel  Fleming. 
Of  the  former  of  whom,  it  is  remarked  in  a  letter  from 
Washington,  "  that  he  is  a  military  genius,  of  a  decisive 
and  independent  spirit,  properly  impressed  with  the  ne- 
cessity of  order  and  discipline,  and  of  sufficient  vigor  to 
enforce  it.  He  would  soon  perfect  himself  in  the  practi- 
cal part,  and  be  fit  to  succeed  to  the  first  place  in  the  de- 
partment." Of  Colonel  Fleming,  who  has  been  previously 
mentioned  as  the  early  instructor  of  Hamilton,  it  is  ob- 
served, "  he  is  an  excellent  disciplinarian,  and  from  long 
practice  in  the  British  army  has  acquired  the  necessary 
knowledge."  The  military  arrangements  were  soon  after 
improved  by  the  better  organization  of  the  armory  depart- 
ment, which  was  brought  before  the  committee  in  a  letter 
from  Hamilton,  written  for  Washington. 

Another  subject  was  at  this  time  taken  into  serious 
consideration, — the  policy  to  be  adopted  towards  the  nu- 
merous Indians  who  threatened  the  frontier  of  the  re- 
public. 

The  reluctance  of  the  United  States  to  employ  them 
as  auxiliaries,  is  among  the  most  gratifying  facts  in  the 
early  history  of  the  Revolution.  But  this  disposition  was 
at  last  changed  by  the  different  policy  of  the  enemy  ,•  and 
in  a  report  framed  by  Gouverneur  Morris,  stating  "  that 
unless  they  were  employed  with  them,  they  would  be  em- 


444  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778- 

ployed  against  them,"  suggesting  "  that  there  is  great  rea- 
son to  believe  that  the  novelty  of  their  appearance  in  the 
field,  the  circumstances  of  horror  and  affright  which  at- 
tend their  attack,  will  have  a  great  effect  upon  the  minds 
of  men  wholly  unacquainted  with  such  an  enemy,"  it  is 
proposed,  that  the  Southern  Indians  should  be  embodied 
under  General  Gist,  and  the  Oneidas  employed  as  light 
troops — among  whom  Louis,  a  chief  of  considerable  tal- 
ent, was  soon  after  commissioned  as  colonel,  and  served 
with  singular  fidelity  throughout  the  war. 

The  pacific  conduct  of  a  large  portion  of  the  Mo- 
hawks, had  been  chiefly  attributable  to  General  Schuyler. 
In  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  his  ancestor  had  been  em- 
ployed as  superintendent  over  this  savage  people,  and  he 
became  so  popular,  that  his  portrait  was  preserved  among 
them  with  the  greatest  care,  and  brought  out  at  every  im- 
portant council  they  held.  This  influence  descended  in 
the  family  ;  and  during  the  fiercest  moments  of  the  con 
test,  instances  and  messages  of  mutual  kindness  occurred. 
The  wild,  imaginative  sensibility  of  this  race  clothed  thf 
person  of  Schuyler  with  an  almost  supernatural  sacred- 
ness  ;  and  it  is  stated,  that  on  the  very  day  on  which  Miss 
McCrea  was  murdered,  his  wife  and  second  daughter 
passed  these  hordes  unmolested.  Even  until  the  close  of 
Schuyler's  life,  parties  are  remembered  to  have  been  seen 
encamping  near  his  residence  at  Albany,  preferring  confi- 
dent claims  upon  his  bounty,  indulging  in.  mimic  repre- 
sentations of  their  savage  sports,  and  reminding  him  that 
he  was  descended  from  their  "  Great  father  Queedir." 

A  letter  to  Schuyler  from  Washington,  written  by 
Hamilton,  regretted  that  "  the  disposition  of  the  Indians 
was  not  generally  so  favorable  as  could  be  wished  ;  but 
\i  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  when  we  consider  the  advan- 
tages the  enemy  possess  over  us,  in  the  means  of  supply- 


Mf.  21.]  HAMILTON.  445 

ing  their  wants  and  rewarding  their  friendships.  The 
Oneidas  and  Tuscaroras  have  a  particular  claim  to  atten- 
tion and  kindness  for  their  perseverance  and  fidelity.  M. 
Toussard,  with  a  party  of  Indians,  arrived  in  camp  yester- 
day." Another  party  being  expected,  he  dissuaded  their 
coming  for  the  reason,  that  probably  "  there  will  be  very 
little  of  that  kind  of  service  in  which  the  Indians  are 
capable  of  being  useful."  Hints  were  given  as  to  the 
mode  to  be  adopted  to  satisfy  them  in  not  being  em- 
ployed. 

While  these  several  measures  were  under  considera- 
tion, the  difficult  subject  of  a  negotiation  for  the  exchange 
of  prisoners  had  been  resumed. 

Late  in  July,  seventy-six,  a  proposition  made  by 
Washington  for  an  exchange  upon  equal  terms  was  ac- 
ceded to  by  Sir  William  Howe.  The  frequent  differences 
which  had  arisen  as  to  the  construction  and  execution  of 
this  agreement,  had,  as  stated,  been  a  subject  of  corres- 
pondence. Mutual  crimination  and  recrimination  had 
passed,  each  side  doubtless  having  just  cause  of  com- 
plaint. This  subject  was  again  brought  before  Washing- 
ton, soon  after  the  late  campaign,  in  a  very  earnest  letter 
from  the  British  commander.  In  reply,  Hamilton  wrote 
him,  over  the  signature  of  Washington,  commenting  upon 
the  treatment  of  officers  in  his  hands.  "  Americans,"  it 
was  observed,  "  have  their  feelings  of  sympathy  as  well 
as  other  men.  A  series  of  injuries  may  exhaust  their  pa- 
tience, and  it  is  natural  that  the  sufferings  of  their  friends 
in  captivity  should  at  length  irritate  them  into  resentment 
and  acts  of  retaliation." 

The  day  after  the  date  of  this  letter,  this  matter  was 
brought  before  Congress  in  a  report  of  the  Board  of  War, 
and  in  terms  of  severe  censure,  resolutions  were  passed 
of  a  retaliatory  character.  In  the  communication  of 


440  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

them  to  Howe,  Hamilton,  over  the  signature  of  Washing- 
ton, introduced  this  observation  : 

"  There  is  one  passage  of  your  letter  which  I  cannot 
forbear  taking  particular  notice  of.  No  expression  of 
personal  politeness  to  me  can  be  acceptable,  accompanied 
by  reflections  on  the  representatives  of  a  free  people,  un- 
der whose  authority  I  have  the  honor  to  act.  The  deli- 
cacy I  have  observed,  in  refraining  from  every  thing 
offensive  in  this  way,  entitled  me  to  expect  a  similar  treat- 
ment from  you.  I  have  not  indulged  myself  in  invective 
against  the  present  rulers  of  Great  Britain  in  the  course 
of  our  correspondence,  nor  will  I  now  avail  myself  of  so 
fruitful  a  theme." 

A  few  days  after,  Howe  announced  his  readiness  to 
make  a  general  exchange  of  prisoners,  which  was  acceded 
to,  and  orders  were  given  to  remove  the  English  to  places 
most  convenient  for  their  delivery.  Though  approving  a 
general  exchange,  Congress,  referring  to  a  previous  reso- 
lution, now  called  for  a  statement  of  the  accounts  of  the 
several  States  against  British  prisoners ;  and  declared, 
that  until  the  balance  due  to  the  United  States  was  dis- 
charged, no  exchange  should  be  made. 

When  apprised  of  this  decision,  Hamilton,  over  the 
signature  of  Washington,  addressed  a  very  pointed  re- 
monstrance to  that  body,  which  has  been  pronounced  "  a 
model  of  discussion."  * 

Having  stated  that,  "  The  unhappy  violation  of  the  flag 
of  truce  has  laid  us  under  no  small  embarrassment,  and 
has  afforded  the  enemy  good  grounds  for  complaints  and 
triumphs  at  the  same  time," — he  referred  to  the  frequent 
sanctions  given  to  his  views  by  Congress.  This  was  fol- 
lowed by  an  earnest  expostulation. 

*  "  Dans  one  longue  lettre,  qui  est  un  module  de  discussion  des  affaires." — 
Di-icitft  Washington,  i.  130.  ,.  s 


/Ex.  21.]  HAMILTON.  447 

"  But  perhaps  it  may  be  thought  contrary  to  our  inter- 
est to  go  into  an  exchange,  as  the  enemy  would  derive 
more  immediate  advantage  from  it  than  we  should.  This 
I  shall  not  deny,  but  it  appeared  to  me,  that  on  principles 
of  genuine  extensive  policy,  independent  of  the  consider- 
ations of  compassion  and  justice,  we  were  under  an  obli- 
gation not  to  elude  it.  I  have  the  best  evidence  that  an 
event  of  this  kind  is  the  general  wish  of  the  country.  I 
know  it  to  be  the  wish  of  the  army  ;  and  no  one  can 
doubt,  that  it  is  the  ardent  wish  of  the  unhappy  sufferers 
themselves.  We  need  only  consult  the  tide  of  humanity 
and  sympathies  natural  to  those  connected  by  cements  of 
blood,  interest,  and  a  common  dread  of  evil,  to  be  con- 
vinced that  the  prevailing  current  of  sentiment  demands 
an  exchange.  If  the  country,  the  army,  and  even  the 
prisoners  themselves  had  a  precise  idea  of  our  circum- 
stances, and  could  be  fully  sensible  of  the  disadvantages 
that  might  attend  the  giving  our  enemy  considerable  rein- 
forcements without  having  an  equivalent,  they  might,  per- 
haps, be  willing  to  make  a  sacrifice  of  their  feelings  to  the 
motives  of  policy.  But  they  have  not  this  knowledge, 
and  cannot  be  intrusted  with  it,  and  their  reasonings,  of 
necessity,  will  be  governed  by  what  they  feel. 

"  Were  an  opinion  once  to  be  established,  and  the  ene- 
my and  their  emissaries  know  very  well  how  to  incul- 
cate it,  if  they  are  furnished  with  a  plausible  pretext,  that 
we  designedly  avoided  an  exchange,  it  would  be  a  cause 
of  dissatisfaction  and  disgust  to  the  country  and  to  the 
army,  of  resentment  and  desperation  to  our  captive  offi- 
cers and  soldiers  ;  to  say  nothing  of  the  importance  of 
not  hazarding  our  national  character  but  upon  the  most 
solid  grounds,  especially  in  our  embryo  state,  from  the 
influence  it  may  have  on  our  affairs  abroad  ;  it  may  not 
be  a  little  dangerous  to  beget,  in  the  minds  of  our  own 


448  THE   KEPUBLIC.  [1778. 

countrymen,  a  suspicion  that  we  do  not  pay  the  strictest 
observance  to  the  maxims  of  honor  and  good  faith.  Il 
is  prudent  to  use  the  greatest  caution,  not  to  shock  the 
notions  of  general  justice  and  humanity  universal  among 
mankind,  as  well  in  a  public  as  a  private  view.  In  a  busi- 
ness, on  the  side  of  which  the  passions  are  so  much  con- 
cerned as  in  the  present,  men  would  be  readily  disposed  to 
believe  the  worst,  and  cherish  the  most  unfavorable  con- 
clusions. Were  the  letters  that  have  passed  between 
General  Howe  and  myself  from  first  to  last,  and  the  pro- 
ceedings of  Congress  on  the  same  subject,  to  be  published 
with  proper  comments,  it  is  much  to  be  feared,  if  the  ex- 
change should  be  deferred  till  the  terms  of  the  last  resolve 
were  fulfilled,  that  it  would  be  difficult  to  prevent  our  be- 
ing generally  accused  of  a  breach  of  good  faith.  Per- 
haps it  might  be  said,  that  while  the  enemy  refused  us  jus- 
tice, we  fondly  embraced  the  opportunity  to  be  loud,  per- 
severing, incessant  in  our  claims  ;  but  the  moment  they 
were  willing  to  render  it,  we  receded  from  ourselves  and 
started  new  difficulties.  This,  I  say,  might  be  the  reason- 
ing of  speculative  minds,  and  they  might  consider  all  our 
professions  as  mere  professions,  or,  at  best,  that  interest 
and  policy  were  to  be  the  only  arbiters  of  their  validity. 

"  Imputations  of  this  nature  would  have  a  tendency  to 
unnerve  our  operations,  by  diminishing  that  respect  and 
confidence  which  are  essential  to  be  placed  in  those  who 
are  at  the  head  of  affairs,  either  in  the  civil  or  military 
line.  This,  added  to  the  prospect  of  hopeless  captivity, 
would  be  a  great  discouragement  to  the  service.  The  ill 
consequences  of  both  would  be  immense — by  increasing 
the  causes  of  discontent  in  the  army,  which  are  already 
too  numerous,  many  of  which  are  in  a  great  measure  un- 
avoidable— by  fortifying  that  unwillingness  which  already 
rppears  too  great,  towards  entering  into  the  service  ;  and 


^ET.  21.]  HAMILTON.  441) 

of  course  impeding  the  progress  both  of  drafting  and  re- 
cruiting by  dejecting  the  courage  of  the  soldiery,  from  an 
apprehension  of  the  horrors  of  captivity ;  and  finally  by 
reducing  those,  whose  lot  it  is  to  drink  the  bitter  cup,  to  a 
despair  which  can  only  find  relief  by  renouncing  their 
attachments  and  engaging  with  their  captors.  These 
effects  have  already  been  experienced  in  part  from  the 
obstacles  that  have  lain  in  the  way  of  exchanges ;  but  if 
these  obstacles  were  once  to  seem  the  result  of  system, 
they  would  become  tenfold." 

These  views  were  briefly  stated  in  a  private  letter 
from  Hamilton  to  Governor  Clinton.*  "  Lately,"  he  re- 
marks, "  a  flag  with  provisions  and  clothing  for  the  British 
prisoners,  with  General  Washington's  passport,  was  seized 
at  Lancaster.  The  affair  was  attended  with  circum- 
stances of  violence.  Still  more  lately,  General  Washing- 
ton's engagement  with  General  Howe  for  an  exchange  of 
prisoners  has  been  violated.  Congress  have  resolved,  that 
no  exchange  shall  take  place  till  all  accounts  are  settled, 
and  the  balance  due  the  United  States  paid.  The  beauty 
of  it  is,  that  on  a  fair  settlement,  we  shall,  without  doubt, 
be  in  Mr.  Howe's  debt ;  and,  in  the  mean  time,  we  detain 
his  officers  and  soldiers  as  a  security  for  the  payment. 
The  operation  of  this  resolve,  though  it  does  not  plainly 
appear  upon  the  face  of  it,  is  to  put  off  an  exchange,  per- 
haps for  ever.  At  any  rate,  it  cannot  take  place  all  next 
summer.  It  is  t'hcught  to  be  bad  policy  to  go  into  an  ex- 
change ;  but,  admitting  this  to  be  true,  it  is  much  worse 
policy  to  commit  such  frequent  breaches  of  faith,  and  ruin 
our  national  character.  Whatever  refined  politicians  may 
think,  it  is  of  great  consequence  to  preserve  a  national 
character  ;  and  if  it  should  once  be  seen  to  be  a  system  in 
any  State  to  violate  its  faith,  whenever  it  is  the  least  in- 

*  March  12. 
VOL.  I.— 29 


450  THE  REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

convenient  to  keep  it,  it  will  unquestionably  have  an  ill 
effect  upon  foreign  negotiations,  and  tend  to  bring  gov- 
ernment at  home  into  contempt,  and  of  course  to  destroy 
its  influence.  The  general  notions  of  justice  and  human- 
ity are  implanted  in  almost  every  human  breast,  and 
ought  not  to  be  too  freely  shocked.  In  the  present  case, 
the  passions  of  the  country  and  the  army  are  on  the  side 
of  an  exchange ;  and  a  studied  attempt  to  avoid  it  will 
disg'ist  both,  and  tend  to  make  the  service  odious.  It 
will  injure  drafting  and  recruiting,  discourage  the  militia, 
and  increase  the  discontents  of  the  army.  The  prospect 
of  hopeless  captivity  cannot  but  be  very  disagreeable  to 
men  constantly  exposed  to  the  chance  of  it.  Those, 
whose  lot  it  is  to  fall  into  it,  will  have  little  scruple  to  get 
rid  of  it  by  joining  the  enemy."  Having  recapitulated  the 
arguments  previously  used  to  show  the  propriety  of  an 
exchange,  he  observes :  "  And  I  would  ask,  whether  in  a 
republican  State  and  a  republican  army,  such  a  cruel 
policy  as  that  of  exposing  those  men,  who  are  foremost  in 
defence  of  their  country,  to  the  miseries  of  hopeless  cap- 
tivity, can  succeed  ?  " 

The  expostulation  with  Congress  produced  the  desired 
effect.  With  only  three  negatives,  they  authorized  the  con- 
templated exchange  to  proceed,  without  waiting  for  a 
previous  settlement  of  accounts ;  but  directed  that  it 
should  be  a  prerequisite  to  any  future  cartel. 

An  arrangement  was  now  made  with  Howe  for  a  ne- 
gotiation, and  a  commission  from  Washington,  drawn  up 
by  Hamilton,  was  issued,  appointing  him  together  with 
others  to  meet  the  representatives  of  Howe.  Assurances 
were  in  the  mean  time  given  to  Congress  in  a  letter  writ- 
ten by  Hamilton  of  every  effort  to  "  exempt  citizens  from 
captivity."  The  commissioners  met,  but  without  effecting 
a  cartel.  Howe  had  issued  his  commission,  founded  ex- 


yE-r.  21.]  HAMILTON.  451 

pressly  upon  his  own  authority,  declaring  that  he  "  had  no 
intention,  either  of  binding  the  nation,  or  extending  the 
cartel  beyond  the  limits  and  duration  of  his  own  com- 
mand." This  of  course  was  objected  to  by  the  American 
commissioners.  Congress  formally  approved  their  con- 
duct, and  ordered  the  correspondence  to  be  published.* 

The  delays  of  Congress  to  act  upon  the  plan  for  the 
reorganization  of  the  army  now  called  forth  a  letter  from 
the  pen  of  Hamilton,  signed  by  the  commander-in-chief  at 
Valley  Forge. f  Referring  to  a  previous  letter  it  's  stated  : 
"  To  know  whether  the  old  establishment  of  the  army,  or 
the  new  as  agreed  upon  by  the  committee,  is  the  choice 
of  Congress,  and  in  what  manner  the  regiments  of  this 
State  and  the  additionals  are  to  be  reduced,  was  my  ob- 
ject. These  are  objects  of  the  greatest  moment,  as  they 
may,  in  their  consequences,  involve  the  fate  of  America ; 
for  I  will  undertake  to  say,  that  it  is  next  to  impossible, 
when  the  season  is  so  far  advanced,  properly  to  accom- 
plish those  changes,  appointments,  and  the  dependent  ar- 
rangements for  the  ensuing  campaign.  Should  any  con- 
vulsion happen,  or  movement  take  place,  they  will  be 
altogether  impracticable.  Justice  to  my  own  character, 
as  well  as  duty  to  the  public,  constrains  me  to  repeat  these 
things ;  their  consequences  are  more  easily  conceived 
than  described."  Then  alluding  to  the  proposition  for 
half-pay,  it  is  observed :  "  If  my  opinion  is  asked  with 
respect  to  the  necessity  of  making  this  provision  for  the 
officers,  1  am  ready  to  declare,  that  I  do  most  religiously 
believe  the  salvation  of  the  cause  depends  upon  it,  and, 
without  it,  your  officers  will  moulder  to  nothing,  or  be 
composed  of  low  and  illiterate  men,  void  of  capacity  for 
this,  or  any  other  business.  Personally,  as  an  officer,  1 
have  no  interest  ^n  their  decision,  because  I  have  declared, 
*  American  Remembrancer.  f  April  10. 


452  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778 

and  I  now  repeat  it,  that  I  never  will  receive  the  smallest 
benefit  from  the  half-pay  establishment ;  but,  as  a  man 
who  fights  under  the  weight  of  a  proscription,  and,  as  a 
citizen  who  wishes  to  see  the  liberty  of  his  country  estab- 
lished upon  a  permanent  foundation,  and  whose  property 
depends  upon  the  success  of  our  arms,  I  am  deeply  inter- 
ested. At  no  period  since  the  commencement  of  the  war, 
have  I  felt  more  painful  sensations  on  account  of  delay, 
than  at  the  present ;  and,  urged  by  them,  I  have  expressed 
myself  without  reserve." 

Thus  stimulated,  Congress  resumed  the  consideration 
of  this  matter.  Different  modifications  were  suggested. 
On  a  proposal  to  give  half-pay  for  a  term  of  years  the 
vote  was  divided  ;  and  it  was  resolved  to  grant  it  for  life, 
New  England,  New  Jersey,  and  South  Carolina  in  the 
negative.  This  decision  was  subsequently  reversed,  and 
the  provision  was  limited  to  a  term  of  seven  years.  The 
chief  objection  taken  was,  that  the  grant  was  "  repugnant 
to  the  principles  upon  which  the  great  controversy  was 
begun,  and  by  which  it  must  and  ought  to  be  defended.* 

Another  important  topic  was  alluded  to  in  a  letter 
written  by  Hamilton.  The  vain  attempts  to  regulate 
prices  by  legislation,  had  recently  been  the  chief  object  of 
a  conference  of  commissioners  from  several  contiguous 
States,  held  at  New  Haven.  It  was  supposed,  that  these 
regulations  had  failed  because  of  a  want  of  concert ;  and 
an  act  to  be  passed  by  the  several  States  was  framed  to 
accomplish  this  despotic  purpose.  Rejecting  so  empiric  a 
policy,  Hamilton  had  the  previous  year  suggested  to  Con- 
gress, in  the  name  of  the  commander-in-chief,  the  only 
practicable  expedient  of  domestic  relief.  It  was  "  the 
establishment  of  public  tanneries  in  three  or  four  of  the 
States  under  care  of  a  judicious  commissary  or  director," 

*  Sherman.  Hnntington,  and  Wolcott,  to  Gov.  Tram  bull,  May  1 ,  1 778. 


^Er.  21.]  HAMILTON.  453 

at  which  "  artists,  such  as  shoe  and  harness  makers,  might 
be  employed  to  work  the  leather  up."  The  other  measure 
was,  as  the  foreign  supply  of  spirits  was  cut  off,  the  ap- 
pointment of  proper  persons  to  purchase  grain  and  distil 
it  for  the  army,  the  want  of  it  being  "  a  source  of  much 
complaint." 

These  measures  were  hot  resorted  to,  and,  seeing  the 
effects  of  the  laws  regulating  prices  on  the  supplies  to  the 
army,  he  now  wrote  Congress,  urging  their  suspension. 
"  How  far  it  may  be  practicable  to  suspend  their  operation 
for  a  time,  I  cannot  determine,  but  if  it  can  be  done,  il 
appears  to  me,  we  should  experience  many  advantages 
from  it."  The  better  sense  of  Massachusetts  rejected  this 
impolitic  act,  and  levied  a  tax  to  redeem  her  bills.  Con- 
gress had  previously  recommejided  the  raising  of  a  tax  of 
five  millions  of  dollars  by  the  States  in  specified  sums,  and 
that  they  refrain  from  the  further  emission  of  bills  of 
credit.  They  had  also  urged  that  justice  should  have  a 
free  course,  and  that  subscriptions  for  loans  be  opened. 
With  these  resolutions  two  others  were  passed,  less  wise — 
one  to  confiscate  and  sell  the  property  of  adherents  of  the 
enemy,  the  other  to  regulate  prices.  The  latter,  it  was 
now  urged,  should  be  suspended  or  repealed.  ?yvu?H 

While,  with  laggard  pace,  this  small  assembly  were 
acting  upon  the  suggestions  from  head-quarters,  advices 
were  received  from  Europe  of  greatest  moment. 

The  capture  of  Burgoyne  and  the  bold  assault  at  Ger- 
mantown  had  dismayed  the  councils  of  England  and  de- 
cided those  of  France. 

On  the  sixth  of  February,  treaties  of  alliance,  amity 
and  commerce  with  the  United  States,  were  concluded  at 
Paris,  of  which  the  details  will  be  given,  and  ere  a  fort- 
night elapsed,  befpre  these  articles  of  treaty  were  made 
public,  bills  were  introduced  into  Parliament  for  the  ad- 


454  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

justment  of  the  controversy.  These  bills  relinquished  the 
right  of  taxation,  except  that  of  imposing  custom  duties, 
of  which  the  net  product  was  to  be  paid  and  applied  to 
the  uses  of  the  colonies  in  which  they  were  levied.  They 
authorized  the  appointment  of  commissioners  by  the 
crown  to  treat  with  the  colonies  united  in  Congress,  or 
with  the  separate  colonial  asemblies,  or  with  individuals. 
Powers  were  given  to  these  commissioners  of  suspending 
hostilities,  and  also  all  acts  oi"  Parliament  relating  to  the 
colonies  passed  since  February,  sixty-three ;  of  granting 
pardons  and  of  appointing  a  governor  in  any  colony 
where  that  power  had  been  exercised  by  the  crown. 

Hoping  to  anticipate  the  action  of  Congress  as  to  the 
recent  treaties  with  France,  and  to  prevent  their  ratifica- 
tion, copies  of  these  bills  were  sent  to  America,  and  were 
instantly  distributed. 

Weak  as  was  the  measure,  no  channel  could  have  been 
selected  more  offensive  than  the  person  employed  to  com- 
municate them.  Tryon,  a  name  odious  to  the  people,  sent 
copies  of  them  to  Trumbull,  and  to  Washington,  with  a 
request  they  would  give  them  circulation.  These  being 
communicated  by  him  to  Congress,  resolves,  from  the  pen 
of  Gouverneur  Morris,  were  forthwith  unanimously  passed, 
denouncing  the  proposals,  and  declaring  that  no  confer- 
ence could  be  held,  or  treaty  made  with  Great  Britain, 
unless,  as  a  preliminary,  her  fleets  and  armies  were  with- 
drawn, or  the  independence  of  the  United  States  was 
expressly  acknowledged. 

The  States  were  at  the  same  time  called  upon  to  bring 
their  respective  quotas  of  continental  troops  into  the  field, 
and  to  have  all  their  militia  in  readiness  to  act. 

The  next  day  pardons  were  recommended  to  be  pro- 
claimed by  the  States  to  all  persons  who  should  return  to 
their  allegiance  before  the  tenth  of  June,  to  be  received 
"  with  compassion  and  inorcy."* 


JEx.  21.]  HAMILTON.  455 

The  communication  of  Try  on  to  the  commander-in- 
chief  had  fired  his  temper.  He  truly  pronounced  his  ap- 
plication to  him  to  circulate  these  bills  among  the  army 
an  "extraordinary  and  impertinent  request."  Hamilton 
gave  it  a  different  turn,  and  three  days  after,  over  the 
signature  of  Washington,  acknowledged  it  in  a  vein  of 
brief,  merited  irony : 

"  Sir, — Your  letter  of  the  17th  and  a  triplicate  of  the 
same  were  duly  received.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing 
the  drafts  of  the  two  bills,  before  those  which  were  sent 
by  you  came  to  hand ;  and  I  can  assure  you  they  were 
suffered  to  have  a  free  currency  among  the  officers  and 
men  under  my  command,  in  whose  fidelity  to  the  United 
States  I  have  the  most  perfect  confidence.  The  enclosed 
gazette,  published  the  24th  at  Yorktown,  will  show  you 
that  it  is  the  wish  of  Congress  that  they  should  have  an 
unrestrained  circulation.  I  take  the  liberty  to  transmit  to 
you  a  few  printed  copies  of  a  resolution  of  Congress  of 
the  23d  instant,  and  to  request  that  you  will  be  instru- 
mental in  communicating  its  contents,  so  far  as  it  may  be 
in  your  power,  to  the  persons  who  are  the  objects  of  its 
operation.  The  benevolent  purpose  it  is  intended  to 
answer  will,  I  persuade  myself,  sufficiently  recommend  it 
to  your  candor." 

The  circulation  of  these  bills  wholly  failed  of  their 
intended  purpose.  They  gave  a  new  impulse  to  the  desire 
of  independence. 

A  few  days  after,  the  treaties  with  France  were  laid 
before  Congress.  On  the  fifth  of  May,  they  were  unan- 
imously ratified,  and  the  following  day,  the  alliance  was 
celebrated  by  the  army  with  a  military  parade,  a  solemn 
thanksgiving,  a  public  banquet  of  the  officers,  and  cheer- 
ing gratulations  of  the  soldiery. 

An  address  was  now  issued  by  Congress  inciting  the 


456  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

people  to  "strenuous  unremitted  exertions,"  which  was 
followed  by  a  proclamation  enjoining  a  sacred  regard  to 
the  rights  of  neutral  powers,  and  impunity  to  all  vessels 
under  the  protection  of  neutral  colors,  nations,  or  princes, 
under  penalty  of  condign  punishment. 

The  conclusion  of  these  treaties  had  raised  in  the  mind 
of  General  Greene  questions  as  to  the  extent  of  the  pre- 
parations to  be  made  for  the  military  service.  On  being 
communicated  to  Washington,  a  provident  reply  was 
written  to  him  by  Hamilton  in  behalf  of  the  commander- 
in-chief,  on  the  day  of  their  ratification : 

"In  answer  to  your  favor  of  the  third,  I  g*ive  it  clearly 
as  my  opinion,  that  no  change  has  happened  in  our  affairs 
which  will  justify  the  least  relaxation  in  any  of  our 
military  preparations,  and  consequently  that  the  provisions 
you  have  been,  and  are  making  in  your  department,  ought 
to  be  continued  in  their  fullest  vigor  and  extent. 

"  The  intelligence  from  abroad  is  extremely  favorable, 
and  affords  us  an  earnest  of  success,  with  proper  manage- 
ment, but  there  is  nothing  in  it  that  can  make  it  prudent 
to  depart  in  the  smallest  degree  from  the  exertion  we 
should  otherwise  have  made.  There  may  still  be  business 
enough  to  call  out  our  most  strenuous  efforts.  Britain  is  a 
country  full  of  resources.  Her  interest  arid  connections 
in  Europe  are  great ;  an  union  within,  under  a  popular 
administration,  which  a  principle  of  common  danger  may 
produce,  would  render  her  capable  of  great  internal  ex- 
ertions. 

"  The  storm  which  now  seems  to  be  rising  in  Europe 
may  subside,  and  a  compromise  ensue  between  the  con- 
tending powers,  from  which  a  change  in  the  system  may 
result,  very  advantageous  to  the  views  of  our  enemies. 
All  these  arj  events  which  may  happen ;  and  which,  if 
there  were  no  other  considerations,  would  make  it  unwise 


JET.  21.]  HAMILTON.  457 

to  suffer  ourselves  to  be  lulled  into  security,  or  to  remit 
any  endeavors  that  may  serve  to  put  our  military  affairs 
upon  the  most  respectable  footing  possible. 

"  But  it  is  also  to  be  remembered,  that  the  British  army 
in  America  is  still  very  considerable  ;  and  if  collected, 
would  be  formidable  to  all  the  force  we  should  be  able  to 
oppose  to  it.  In  all  probability,  it  will  either  be  with- 
drawn or  assembled  at  one  point,  for  some  vigorous  and 
enterprising  push,  if  it  were  only  to  make  the  way  for  a 
negotiation.  The  former  is  more  to  be  wished  than  ex- 
pected. British  pride  would  never  submit  to  it,  but  in 
the  last  extremity ;  and  perhaps  we  should  flatter  our- 
selves too  much,  to  suppose  that  extremity  exists.  If  the 
latter  should  be  the  case,  remissness  in  our  present  prepa- 
rations might  be  fatal ;  or  at  any  rate,  could  not  fail  to 
have  a  very  injurious  influence.  The  enemy  might  obtain 
successes  which  would  have  a  most  unhappy  operation 
upon  the  current  of  our  sentiments  at  home,  and  upon  the 
progress  of  our  negotiations  and  growing  friendships 
abroad. 

"  If  we  had  nothing  to  fear  from  any  offensive  opera- 
tions of  the  enemy,  policy  may  require  very  extensive  and 
important  offensive  operations  on  our  part,  which  will 
make  it  necessary  we  should  be  prepared  in  the  amplest 
manner  at  all  points. 

"In  a  word,  in'what  manner  soever  the  remainder  of 
the  contest  is  to  be  prosecuted,  whether  it  is  to  depend 
upon  fighting  or  negotiation,  a  powerful  army,  well  fur- 
nished with  every  apparatus  of  war,  will  put  it  in  our 
power  to  meet  all  contingencies,  with  confidence  and  ad- 
vantage, and  to  pursue  the  true  interests  of  these  States 
through  any  combination  of  circumstances  that  shall  pre- 
sent itself,  with  firmness  and  decision. 

"  Whether  any,  or  what,  change   may  happen  in  the 


458  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

local  situation  of  the  army,  in  the  approaching  campaign, 
or  what  disposition  in  your  department  may  be  requisite 
in  consequence,  are  matters  which,  for  particular  reasons, 
I  cannot  yet  determine.  A  council  will  soon  be  held,  in 
which  will  be  decided  a  general  plan  of  operations  for  the 
army.  When  this  is  done,  you  will  receive  your  instruc- 
tions accordingly  :  in  the  mean  time,  you  will  proceed 
in  the  plan  already  on  foot." 

The  President  of  Congress  writes  at  this  time  :  "  We 
are  not  to  roll  down  a  green  bank  and  toy  away  the  en- 
suing summer.  There  is  blood,  much  blood  in  our  pros- 
pect." 

The  measures  to  fill  the  ranks  and  to  reorganize  the 
army  were  now  completed.  To  attain  the  first  object, 
the  States  had  been  required  by  Congress  "  to  fill  up  by 
drafts  of  their  militia,  or  in  any  other  way  that  shall  be 
effectual,"  their  respective  quotas ;  and  "  to  procure  re- 
cruits by  enlistments  for  three  years  or  during  the  war." 
The  reorganization  of  the  army  was  committed  to  Wash- 
ington, in  conjunction  with  two  members  of  Congress,  too 
late  to  accomplish  much.  To  secure  to  it  supplies,  an 
embargo  was  laid  on  the  exportation  of  provisions.  Lee 
having  been  exchanged  for  Prescott,  and  Ethan  Allen 
for  Colonel  Campbell,  an  exchange  of  prisoners  was  also 
authorized.  With  this  view,  Hamilton  was  commissioned 
by  Washington  to  receive  the  proposals  of  the  enemy, 
and  "  to  do  definitively  whatever  might  be  necessary  to- 
wards the  execution  of  a  general  exchange." 

The  mission  was  in  part  successful. 


CHAPTER    XVI. 

THE  council  of  war  alluded  to  in  the  recent  letter  to 
Greene  was  held  on  the  eighth  of  May.  The  total  force 
of  the  enemy  was  estimated,  exclusive  of  artillery  and 
cavalry,  to  be  about  sixteen  thousand  effective  men,  two 
thousand  in  Rhode  Island,  four  in  New  York,  the  residue 
at  Philadelphia.  This  was  below  the  actual  strength. 
The  total  American  force  of  continentals,  exclusive  of 
artillery  and  cavalry,  was  fifteen  thousand — eighteen 
hundred  of  these  upon  the  Hudson,  fourteen  hundred  at 
Wilmington,  the  rest,  including  the  sick,  at  Valley  Forge. 
The  reinforcements  to  come  in  might  be  computed  at  five 
thousand  more.  Three  plans  had  been  thought  of:  an 
attack  upon  Philadelphia ;  a  transfer  of  the  army  and  a 
descent  upon  New  York  ;  or  to  wait  within  their  lines  the 
movements  of  the  enemy.  The  latter  course  was  decided 
upon. 

What  would  be  the  future  operations  of  the  British, 
was  now  the  interesting  problem.  An  extensive  plan  had 
been  formed  at  London,  but  it  was  abandoned  upon  ad- 
vices of  the  recent  treaties  between  France  and  the 
United  States. 

Howe  having  resigned  his  command,  it  was  conferred 
upon  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  whose  capture  of  the  Highland 
forts  had  obtained  for  him  the  confidence  of  the  ministry. 


THE    REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

England  began  to  feel  that  the  subjugation  of  her  colo- 
nies was  a  herculean  task.  She  had  already  transported 
thither  sixty-two  thousand  soldiers  and  twenty-two  thou- 
sand seamen.  Of  the  former,  the  returns  showed  a  loss  of 
nearly  twenty-nine  thousand,  of  the  latter,  four  thousand, 
while  the  captures  by  American  privateers  were  estimated 
to  constitute  a  loss  of  thirteen  millions  of  dollars.  What 
greater  sacrifices  and  greater  losses  were  to  result  from 
the  co-operation  of  France  in  the  contest  was  a  fearful 
question.  The  recovery  of  the  colonies  appeared  hope- 
less. 

Positive  instructions  were  now  given  to  Clinton,  with 
an  armament  of  five  thousand  men,  immediately  to  cap- 
ture St.  Lucie  ;  and,  this  being  effected,  to  hold  it,  distrib 
uting  a  part  of  the  force  among  the  British  West  Indies. 
Another  division  of  three  thousand  was  to  proceed  to 
Florida,  and  to  occupy  St.  Augustine  and  Pensacola. 
Philadelphia  was  to  be  evacuated,  and  the  troops  there  to 
be  concentrated  at  New  York  to  wait  the  issue  of  the 
contemplated  negotiation,  hopes  of  its  success  being 
weakly  indulged.  Should  it  fail,  and  New  York  be  se- 
riously endangered,  the  army  was  to  be  conveyed  to 
Rhode  Island,  and  a  part,  if  it  should  be  deemed  prudent, 
detached  for  the  protection  of  Nova  Scotia.  Thus  the 
alarm  of  the  alliance  with  France  had  put  England  upon 
the  defensive. 

Ten  days  after  the  council  of  war,*  adverted  to  in  the 
recent  letter  to  Greene,  a  large  detachment  was  sent  for- 
ward under  La  Fayette  to  move  between  the  Delaware 
and  the  Schuylkill,  and  watch  the  enemy.  The  instruc- 
tions were  prepared  by  Hamilton,  who  had  written  to 
Morgan,  to  send  forward  a  body  of  picked  men,  that, 
with  a  party  of  Indians,  were  to  join  the  detachment. 

*  May  18. 


zET.  21.]  HAMILTON.  4(51 

"  A  variety  of  concurring  accounts,"  he  stated  to  La 
Fayette,  "  make  it  probable  that  the  enemy  are  preparing 
to  evacuate  Philadelphia.  This  is  a  point,  which  it  is  of 
the  utmost  importance  to  ascertain ;  and,  if  possible,  the 
place  of  their  future  destination.  Should  you  be  able  to 
gain  certain  intelligence  of  the  time  of  their  intended  em- 
barkation, so  that  you  may  be  aole  to  take  advantage  of 
it,  and  fall  upon  the  rear  of  the  enemy  in  the  act  of  with- 
drawing, it  will  be  a  very  desirable  event.  But  this  will 
be  a  matter  of  no  small  difficulty,  and  will  require  the 
greatest  caution  and  prudence  in  the  execution.  Any  de- 
ception or  precipitation  might  be  attended  with  the  most 
disastrous  consequences.  You  will  remember,  that  your 
detachment  is  .a  very  valuable  one,  and  that  any  accident 
happening  to  it,  would  be  a  very  severe  blow  to  this  army. 
You  will,  therefore,  use  every  possible  precaution  for  its 
security,  and  to  guard  against  a  surprise."  La  Fayette 
immediately  marched  and  took  a  position  at  Barren  Hill 
near  the  Schuylkill,  equi-distant  from  Philadelphia  and 
Valley  Forge.  After  the  interval  of  a  day,  he  was  sur- 
prised by  the  enemy,  and  in  danger  of  being  surrounded. 
A  skilful  manoeuvre  gained  him  time  to  retreat,  and,  cross- 
ing the  Schuylkill,  he  took  a  secure  position  near  its  west- 
ern bank.  While  the  generous  fidelity  of  La  Fayette  and 
the  importance  of  sustaining  his  influence  with  the  French 
court  were  motives  to  cherish  him,  the  danger  to  which 
this  detachment  had  been  exposed  was  a  monition. 

The  destination  of  the  enemy's  forces  was  still  uncer- 
tain, though  the  greater  probability  was  New  York.  To 
prepare  for  the  contingency  of  a  southern  movement, 
boats  were  directed  to  be  provided  on  the  Susquehanna, 
while  Governor  Livingston  was  called  upon  to  hold  the 
Jersey  militia  in  immediate  readiness,  parties  of  whom 
General  Dickinson  was  ordered  to  collect,  and  to  give  the 


4:62  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

enemy  all  the  interruption  in  his  power.  In  a  letter  from 
the  pen  of  Hamilton  to  Wharton,  he  also  was  urged  "  so 
to  order  matters,  that  the  whole  force  of  the  militia  of 
Pennsylvania  might  on  any  sudden  exigency  be  immedi- 
ately drawn  forth."  Maxwell  was  ordered  to  cross  the 
Delaware  and  co-operate  with  Dickinson.  "  Every  possi- 
ble expedient,"  Hamilton  wrote  him  in  behalf  of  Wash- 
ington, "  should  be  used  to  disturb  and  retard  their  pro- 
gress, by  hanging  on  their  flanks  and  rear,  breaking  down 
the  bridges  over  the  creeks  in  their  route,  blocking  up  the 
roads  by  falling  trees,  and  by  every  other  method  that 
can  be  devised." 

The  intention  of  the  enemy  was  to  proceed  to  New 
York  by  water,  but  the  want  of  transports  prevented 
Clinton's  embarking  his  whole  force.  Apprehensions  also, 
if  delayed  on  his  voyage  by  unfavorable  winds,  that 
Washington  would  in  the  interval  make  "  a  decisive  push 
for  that  city,"  determined  him  to  march  through  Jersey. 

While  about  to  march,  the  British  commissioners  ap- 
pointed to  submit  the  conciliatory  acts  of  Parliament  to 
Congress  arrived.*  Overtures  to  persons  of  influence 
were  made,  which  proved  wholly  unsuccessful.  Among 
others,  Robert  Morris  was  addressed  with  assurances  of 
reward.  "  I  think,"  it  was  added,  "  Washington  and  the 
President  have  a  right  to  every  favor  that  grateful  nation? 
can  bestow,  if  they  could  once  more  unite  our  interests, 
and  spare  the  miseries  and  devastations  of  war." 

After  a  full  consideration  of  the  papers  before  them, 
Congress,  on  the  seventeenth  of  June  resolved,  they 
"  would  be  ready  to  enter  upon  the  consideration  of  a 
treaty  of  peace  and  commerce,  not  inconsistent  with 
treaties  already  subsisting,  when  the  king  of  Great  Britain 
shall  demonstrate  a  sincere  disposition  for  that  purpose." 

*  June  4. 


Mr.  21.]  HAMILTON.  403 

"  The  only  solid  proof  of  this  disposition,"  it  was  declared, 
"  will  be,  an  explicit  acknowledgment  of  the  independ- 
ence of  these  States,  or  the  withdrawing  his  fleets  and 
armies." 

The  same  day  a  council  of  war  was  convened  by 
Washington.  He  estimated  the  British  force  at  ten  thou- 
sand men,  his  own  in  a  condition  for  service  at  one  thou- 
sand more,  exclusive  of  a  brigade  in  the  Jerseys  of  eight 
hundred.  He  then  submitted  the  questions,  "  Whether  any 
enterprise  ought  to  be  undertaken  against  the  enemy  in 
their  present  circumstances  ?  Whether  they  should  re- 
main where  they  were  till  the  final  evacuation  of  the  city, 
or  move  immediately  towards  the  Delaware  ?  Whether 
the  detachment  in  the  Jerseys  should  be  reinforced,  that 
it  might  take  advantage  of  the  enemy's  retreat  ?  Whether, 
if  the  enemy  should  march  towards  Amboy,  and  they  re- 
mained where  they  were  until  the  enemy  had  left  the  city, 
they  could  arrive  in  time  to  give  them  any  material  inter- 
ruption ?  Whether  it  would  be  prudent  to  attempt  it,  or 
more  eligible  to  proceed  to  the  North  River ;  and,  if  an 
attack  were  made,  ought  it  to  be  a  partial  or  a  general 
one  ?  *  It  was  determined  by  a  majority  of  the  members 
to  avoid  a  general  or  partial  engagement,  in  opposition  to 
Greene,  Wayne,  and  La  Fayette,  who  urged  the  opinion, 
that  their  true  policy  was  to  harass  the  enemy  on  their 
retreat,  and  without  any  unnecessary  exposure  of  the 
army,  to  seize  the  first  opportunity  of  bringing  on  an  en- 
gagement. 

The  opinion  of  General  Lee,  who  had  recently  joined 
the  army,  was  strenuous  against  an  attack.  His  reputa- 
tion gave  it  a  preponderating  weight.  He  not  only  urged 
the  impolicy  of  active  operations,  but  endeavored  to  sus- 
tain it  on  grounds  extremely  mortifying  to  the  pride  of 

*  From  minute  of  council,  by  Hamilton. 


464  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

the  Americans.  Hamilton,  in  an  eulogiurn  upon  Greene 
delivered  in  the  presence  of  Washington  and  many  offi- 
cers, thus  expressed  himself  in  reference  to  the  determina- 
tion not  to  assail  the  enemy  :  "  I  forbear  to  lift  the  veil 
from  off  those  impotent  councils,  which  by  a  formal  vote 
had  decreed  an  undisturbed  passage  to  an  enemy  retiring 
from  the  fairest  fruits  of  his  victories,  to  seek  an  asylum 
from  impending  danger,  disheartened  by  retreat,  dispirited 
by  desertion,  broken  by  fatigue ; — retreating  through 
woods,  defiles,  and  morasses,  in  which  his  discipline  was 
useless,  in  the  face  of  an  army  superior  in  numbers,  elated 
by  pursuit,  and  ardent  to  signalize  their  courage.  'Tis 
enough  for  the  honor  of  Greene  to  say,  that  he  left  nothing 
unessayed  to  avert  and  to  frustrate  so  degrading  a  resolu- 
tion ;  and  it  was  happy  for  America,  that  the  man  whose 
reputation  could  not  be  wounded  without  wounding  the 
cause  of  his  country,  had  the  noble  fortitude  to  rescue 
himself  and  the  army  he  commanded  from  the  disgrace 
with  which  they  were  both  menaced,  by  the  characteristic 
imbecility  of  a  council  of  war." 

At  three  o'clock  of  the  morning  after  that  council  was 
held,  the  eighteenth  of  June,  the  enemy  moved.  Hamil- 
ton immediately  wrote  over  the  signature  of  Washington 
to  General  Dickinson ;  "  The  rear  of  the  enemy  are  cross- 
ing the  Delaware.  I  am  putting  the  army  in  motion  in 
consequence.  I  rely  on  your  activity  to  give  the  enemy 
all  possible  obstruction  in  their  march,  and  that  you  will 
give  me  instant  and  regular  intelligence  of  every  thing 
that  passes." 

The  following  day,  instructions  from  the  pen  of  Ham- 
ilton were  given  to  Arnold,  whose  wound  prevented  his 
taking  the  field,  to  command  in  Philadelphia.  He  was 
enjoined  "  to  take  every  prudent  step  in  his  power,  to  pre- 
serve tranquillity  and  order  in  the  city,  and  give  security 


^ET.  21.]  HAMILTON.  465 

to  individuals  of  every  class  and  description,  restraining 
as  far  as  possible,  till  the  restoration  of  civil  government, 
every  species  of  persecution,  insult  or  abuse,  either  from 
the  soldiery  to  the  inhabitants  or  among  each  other." 

Washington,  having  detached  Maxwell's  brigade  with 
the  Jersey  militia  to  impede  the  progress  of  the  enemy, 
began  his  march  towards  CorryelPs  Ferry  across  the  Dela- 
ware. Having  arrived  there  at  noon,  he  reinforced  Max- 
well with  a  select  corps  under  Morgan.  At  this  place 
Hamilton  wrote  on  the  twenty-first  in  his  name  to  Gates 
at  Peekskill :  "  Two  divisions  of  the  army  have  crossed 
the  Delaware,  the  remainder  will  cross  to-morrow.  The 
enemy  by  the  last  intelligence  were  moving  on  slowly,  the 
head  of  their  column  had  only  reached  Mount  Holly. 
Their  shipping  had  gone  down  the  river  below  Reedy 
Island,  except  two  which  lay  opposite  to  it.  These  ap- 
pearances seem  to  decide,  that  they  intend  to  traverse  the 
Jerseys,  though  they  do  not  appear  to  be  in  any  hurry. 
While  they  continue  in  their  present  or  a  similar  posture, 
no  detachments  can  with  propriety  be  made  from  this 
army  to  reinforce  you."  This  he  was  assured  would  be 
done  "  to  counteract  any  attempt  they  may  meditate  that 
way." 

Their  first  movements  rendering  it  doubtful  which 
course  they  proposed  to  take,  Washington,,  embarrassed 
by  the  decision  of  the  council,  and  unwilling  to  assume 
the  responsibility  of  precipitating  an  engagement,  took  a 
circuitous  route  by  which  he  reached  Hopewell,  a  place 
five  miles  from  Princeton,  about  noon  of  the  twenty-third 
of  June.  Here  he  halted  until  the  morning  of  the  twenty- 
fifth.  Meanwhile  the  enemy,  delayed  by  their  heavy 
train,  by  the  obstructions  interposed,  and  by  the  weather, 
had  only  gained  the  vicinity  of  Allentown,  where  they 
encamped  on  the  twenty-fourth.  A  letter  written  by 
VOL.  I.— 30 


466  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

Hamilton,  by  order  of  Washington  to  Cadwallader,  from 
this  point,  explains  the  delay  of  the  American  army,  which 
has  been  a  subject  of  animadversion  :  "  I  have  just  re- 
ceived yours  this  day  from  the  drawbridge.  The  army 
marched  this  morning  to  this  place.  It  was  my  intention 
to  have  taken  post  near  Princeton,  but  finding  the  enemy 
are  dilatory  in  advancing,  I  am  doubtful  of  the  propriety 
of  proceeding  any  farther,  till  their  intention  is  ascer- 
tained. I  wish  you  to  inform  me  more  particularly  of  the 
obstructions  which  have  been  thrown  in  their  way,  that  I 
may  be  the  better  able  to  judge  whether  their  delay  is 
owing  to  necessity  or  choice.  Any  circumstance  that 
may  serve  to  throw  light  upon  this  question,  I  shall  be 
obliged  to  you  for,  as  it  is  of  very  great  importance.  If 
their  delay  is  voluntary,  it  argues  a  design  to  draw  us  into 
a  general  action,  and  proves  that  they  consider  this  to  be 
a  desirable  event.  They  may,  perhaps,  wish  to  draw  us 
off  from  the  Delaware,  far  to  the  left,  and  then,  by  a 
rapid  movement,  gain  our  right  flank  and  rear.  I  should 
be  glad  of  your  sentiments  fully  as  to  their  probable  de- 
signs, and  the  conduct  which  it  will  be  most  proper  for  us 
to  observe  in  consequence.  You  will  be  pleased  to  con- 
tinue to  advise  me  punctually  of  every  movement  and 
appearance  of  the  enemy.  Let  me  remind  you  of  men- 
tioning always  the  hour  at  which  you  write,  which  is  of 
the  greatest  moment." 

While  the  army  was  at  this  posi,  and  Sir  Henry  Clin- 
ton was  balancing  between  the  route  to  Staten  Island, 
which  would  expose  him  to  the  danger  of  crossing  the 
Raritan  with  an  army  in  his  rear,  and  the  more  direct 
route  by  way  of  Monmouth,  which  gave  him  the  advan- 
tage, if  necessary,  of  entrenching  himself  on  the  high 
grounds  of  Middletown,  Washington  called  a  second 
council  of  general  officers,  in  which,  supported  by  Greene, 


JET.  21.]  HAMILTON.  407 

Wayne  and  La  Fayette,  he  urged  the  policy  of  pursuing 
the  enemy,  and  bringing  on  an  engagement  before  they 
could  reach  the  eminences  in  their  front.  "  The  result," 
Hamilton  remarked,  "  would  have  done  honor  to  the  most 
honorable  society  of  midwives,  and  to  them  only.  The 
purport  was,  that  we  should  keep  at  a  comfortable  dis- 
tance from  the  enemy,  and  keep  up  a  vain  parade  of  an- 
noying them  by  detachment." 

Still  this  opinion,  by  the  overruling  influence  of  Lee, 
prevailed  ;  and  Washington  was  again  placed  in  the  di- 
lemma, either  of  assuming  the  responsibility  of  an  attack, 
or  of  subjecting  himself  to  the  imputation  of  pusillani- 
mously  sacrificing  an  opportunity,  which  the  advantage 
of  the  ground,  and  his  superior  force  seemed  to  promise, 
of  a  decisive  victory. 

As  soon  as  the  council  had  broken  up,  Hamilton  called 
upon  Greene,  and  urged  him  to  unite  with  him  in  pressing 
Washington  to  force  an  engagement.  As  they  approached 
the  general,  sitting  in  his  tent,  he  arose  and  said,  "  Gentle- 
men, I  anticipate  the  object  of  your  visit.  You  wish  me 
to  fight."  Greene  and  Hamilton  then  recapitulated  the 
reasons  which  had  been  advanced  in  the  council ;  avow- 
ing their  opinion,  that  if  the  British  were  suffered  to  retreat 
unmolested,  they  were  disgraced.  Washington  being  of 
the  same  opinion,  an  attack  was  decided. 

Unable  to  induce  the  council  to  recede  from  their  de- 
cision, he  succeeded  in  obtaining  their  assent  to  the  de- 
taching of  fifteen  hundred  men  under  General  Scott,  to 
join  the  corps  on  the  left  flank  of  the  enemy.  Even  the 
strength  of  this  detachment  would  have  been  reduced  by 
Lee ;  but  the  lion-hearted  Wayne,  firmly  resisting  the 
idea  of  inactivity,  refused  to  sign  the  resolutions  of  the 
council,  and  this  point  was  ultimately  carried. 

Morgan  was  now  ordered  to  gain  the  enemy's  right 


4-68  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

flank,  Maxwell  to  hang  on  their  left,  and  Scott  was  in- 
structed, under  an  order  penned  by  Hamilton,  "to  march 
immediately  towards  Allentown,  in  order  to  fall  in  with 
the  enemy's  left  flank  and  rear,  and  give  them  all  the  an- 
noyance in  his  power." 

Washington  moved  the  next  morning  to  Kingston,  and 
there,  as  Hamilton  states,*  "  made  another  detachment  of 
a  thousand  men  under  General  Wayne,  and  formed  all  the 
detached  troops  into  an  advanced  corps  under  the  com- 
mand of  the  Marquis  de  La  Fayette.  The  project  was, 
that  this  advanced  corps  should  take  the  first  opportunity 
to  attack  the  enemy's  rear  on  the  march,  to  be  supported 
or  covered,  as  circumstances  should  require,  by  the  whole 
army.  General  Lee's  conduct  with  respect  to  the  com- 
mand of  this  corps  was  truly  childish.  According  to  the 
incorrect  notions  of  our  army,  his  seniority  would  have 
entitled  him  to  the  command  of  the  advanced  corps  ;  but 
he  in  the  first  instance  declined  it  in  favor  of  the  marquis. 
Some  of  his  friends  having  blamed  him  for  doing  it,  and 
Lord  Stirling  having  shown  a  disposition  to  interpose  his 
claim,  General  Lee  very  inconsistently  reasserted  his  pre- 
tensions. The  matter  was  a  second  time  accommodated, 
General  Lee  and  Lord  Stirling  agreed  to  let  the  marquis 
command.  General  Lee,  a  little  time  after,  recanted  again 
and  became  very  importunate.  The  general,"  (Washing- 
ton) "  who  had  all  along  observed  the  greatest  candor  in 
the  matter,  grew  tired  of  such  fickle  behavior,  and  or- 
dered the  marquis  to  proceed."  To  avoid  a  surprise, 
Hamilton  was  directed  to  go  on  with  the  advance,  and  aid 
in  the  execution  of  the  design. 

&f -?  He  proceeded  forthwith  to  Cranberry,  whence  ( he 
wrote  to  La  Fayette :  "We  find  on  our  arrival  here,  that 
the  intelligence  received  on  the  road  is  true.  The  enemy 

*  Hamilton  to  Elias  Boudinot,  July  5,  ^777. 


2Er.  21.]  HAMILTON.  469 

have  all  filed  off  from  Allentown,  on  the  Monmoulh  road. 
General  Maxwell  is  at  Hydestown,  about  three  miles  from 
this  place.  General  Dickinson  is  said  to  be  on  the  ene- 
my's right  flank,  but  where,  cannot  be  told.  We  can 
hear  nothing  certain  of  General  Scott,  but,  from  circum- 
stances, he  is  probably  at  Allentown.  We  shall,  agree- 
ably to  your  request,  consider  and  appoint  some  proper 
place  of  rendezvous  for  the  union  of  our  force,  which  we 
shall  communicate  to  Generals  Maxwell  and  Scott,  and  to 
yourself.  In  the  mean  time,  I  would  rt  commend  to  you, 
to  move  towards  this  place  as  soon  as  the  convenience  of 
your  men  will  permit.  I  am  told  that  Colonel  Morgan  is 
on  the  enemy's  right  flank.  We  had  a  slight  skirmish 
with  their  rear  this  forenoon,  on  the  Monmouth  road  lead- 
ing from  Allentown." 

La  Fayette  wrote  on  the  twenty-sixth  to  Washington  : 
"When  I  got  there"  (Cranberry)  "I  was  sorry  to  hear 
that  Hamilton,  who  had  been  riding  all  the  night,  had  not 
been  able  to  find  any  body  who  could  give  him  certain  in- 
telligence. But,  by  a  party  who  came  back,  I  hear  the 
enemy  are  in  motion,  and  their  rear  about  one  mile  off  the 
place  they  had  occupied  last  night,  which  is  seven  or  eight 
miles  from  here.  I  immediately  put  Generals  Maxwell 
and  Wayne's  brigades  in  motion,  and  I  will  fall  lower 
down  with  General  Scott's,  with  Jackson's  regiment  and 
some  militia." 

On  the  same  day,  Hamilton  wrote  from  a  place  eight 
miles  from  Allentown  to  Washington,  who  had  moved 
forward  on  the  evening  of  the  twenty-fifth,  and  arrived 
at  Cranberry  the  next  morning.  "  We  have  halted  the 
troops  at  this  place,  eight  miles  from  Allentown.  The 
enemy,  by  our  last  repbrts,  were  four  miles  from  this,  and 
had  passed  the  road  which  turns  off  towards  South  Am- 
boy,  which  determines  their  route  towards  Shrewsbury. 


470  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

Our  reason  for  halting  is,  the  extreme  distress  of  the 
troops  for  want  of  provisions.  General  Wayne's  detach- 
ment is  almost  starving,  and  seem  both  unwilling  and  un- 
able to  march  till  they  are  supplied.  If  we  do  not  receive 
an  immediate  supply,  the  whole  purpose  of  our  detach- 
ment must  be  frustrated. 

"  On  my  arrival  at  Cranberry  last  evening,  I  pro- 
ceeded, by  desire  of  general  the  marquis,  immediately  to 
Hyde's  Town  and  Allentown,  to  take  measures  for  co- 
operating with  the  different  parts  of  the  detachments,  and 
to  find  what  was  doing  to  procure  intelligence.  I  found 
every  precaution  neglected  ; — no  horse  was  near  the  ene- 
my, or  could  be  heard  of  till  late  in  the  morning  ;  so  that 
before  we  could  send  out  parties,  and  get  the  necessary 
information,  they  were  in  full  march,  and  as  they  have 
marched  pretty  expeditiously,  we  should  not  be  able  to 
come  up  with  them  during  the  day,  even  if  we  did  not 
suffer  the  impediment  we  do  on  the  score  of  provisions. 

"  We  are  entirely  at  a  loss  where  the  army  is,  which 
is  no  inconsiderable  check  to  our  enterprise.  If  the  army 
is  wholly  out  of  supporting  distance,  we  risk  the  total  loss 
of  the  detachment  in  making  an  attack.  If  the  army  will 
countenance  us,  we  may  do  something  clever.  We  feel 
our  personal  honor,  as  well  as  the  honor  of  the  army  and 
the  good  of  the  service,  interested,  and  are  heartily  desi- 
rous to  attempt  whatever  the  disposition  of  our  men  will 
second,  and  prudence  authorize.  It  is  evident,  the  enemy 
wish  to  avoid,  not  to  engage  us.  An  officer  is  just  come  in, 
who  informs,  he  left  the  enemy's  force  near  five  miles 
off,  still  in  march.  To  ascertain  more  fully  their  route,  I 
have  ordered  a  fresh  party  on  their  left,  and  towards  the 
head  of  their  column.  They  have  three  brigades  in  rear 
of  their  baggage." 

In  the  after  part  of  the  same  day  he  again  wrote  to 


JET.  21.]  HAMILTON.  471 

Washington,  who,  at  the  head  of  the  main  body,  was  de- 
tained at  Cranberry  by  a  storm:  "The  result  of  what  I 
have  seen  and  heard  respecting  the  enemy  is,  that  they 
have  encamped  with  their  van  a  little  beyond  Monmouth 
Court-House,  and  their  rear  at  Manalapans  river,  about 
seven  miles  from  this  place.  Their  march  to-day  has  been 
very  judiciously  conducted  ;  their  baggage  in  front,  and 
their  flying  army  in  the  rear,  with  a  rear  guard  of  one 
thousand  men  about  four  hundred  paces  from  the  main 
body. 

"To  attack  them  in  this  situation,  without  being  sup- 
ported by  the  whole  army,  would  be  folly  in  the  extreme. 
If  it  should  be  thought  advisable  to  give  the  necessary 
support,  the  army  can  move  to  some  position  near  the 
enemy's  left  flank,  which  would  put  them  in  a  very 
awkward  situation,  with  so  respectable  a  body  in  their 
rear,  and  would  put  it  out  of  their  power  to  turn  either 
flank,  should  they  be  so  disposed.  Their  left  is  strongly 
posted  ;  and  I  am  told  their  right  is  also.  By  some  ac- 
counts, one  part  of  his  army  lies  in  the  road  leading  from 
the  Monmouth  road  to  South  Amboy.  It  is  not  improba- 
ble that  South  Amboy  may  still  be  the  object.  I  had 
written  thus  far  when  your  letter  to  the  marquis  arrived. 
This  puts  the  matter  on  a  totally  different  footing.  The 
detachment  will  march  to-morrow  morning  at  three 
o'clock  to  Englishtown."  This  order  was  given  in  conse- 
quence of  the  delay  of  the  main  body,  by  which  the  ad- 
vanced corps,  being  too  far  on  the  right,  would  be  unsup- 
ported, in  case  of  an  attack,  as  had  been  indicated  in 
Hamilton's  letter  of  the  morning.  Early  on  the  twenty- 
seventh,  the  detachment  under  the  marquis  moved  for- 
ward to  Englishtown.  The  change  in  the  position  of  the 
enemy  rendering  it  proper  to  reinforce  the  advanced 
corps,  and  partly  to  relieve  Lee's  feelings,  Washington 


THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

detached  him  with  two  brigades  to  Englishlown  to  sup- 
port La  Fayette.  In  order  to  assure  his  purpose,  he  was 
instructed,  that  any  operation  in  which  the  advance  had 
engaged,  should  be  persevered  in ;  and  with  this  under- 
standing, the  command  was  confided  to  him.  The  main 
nody  then  moved  forward,  and  encamped  within  three 
miles  of  that  place. 

On  the  evening  of  the  twenty-seventh,  Hamilton,  who 
had  rejoined  the  main  body  by  order  of  Washington,  wrote 
to  General  Lee,  directing  him,  from  the  apprehension  thai 
the  enemy  might  move  off  at  night,  or  earlv  in  the  morn- 
ing, to  detach  a  party  of  six  or  eight  hundreu  men,  to  lie 
near  them,  and  to  skirmish  so  as  to  produce  some  delay  ; 
also  to  give  orders  to  Morgan  to  make  an  attack  for  a 
similar  purpose.  A  previous  order  had  been  issued  to  Lee 
to  call  the  officers  together,  and  plan  the  attack ;  and  an 
hour  was  appointed  by  him  for  the  conference ;  but  be- 
fore they  met,  he  rode  out,  and  on  the  inquiry  for  orders, 
they  were  informed  that  he  had  none  to  give. 

In  the  interim,  the  enemy  had  taken  a  strong  position 
with  their  right  extending  about  a  mile  and  a  half  beyond 
Monmouth  Court-House,  to  the  parting  of  the  roads  lead- 
ing to  Shrewsbury  and  Middletown,  and  their  left  along 
the  road  from  Allentown  to  Monmouth,  about  three  miles 
this  side  of  the  Court-House.  Their  right  flank  lay  on 
the  skirt  of  a  small  wood,  while  their  left  was  secured  by 
a  very  thick  one,  a  morass  running  towards  their  rear, 
and  their  whole  front  covered  by  a  wood,  and,  for  a  con- 
siderable extent  towards  the  left,  with  a  morass.  In  this 
situation  they  halted  till  the  morning  of  the  twenty-eighth.* 
The  information  showing,  that  should  the  enemy  reach  the 
heights  of  Monmouth,  a  distance  of  ten  or  twelve  miles 
from  their  present  position,  it  would  be  impossible  to  at- 

*  Waohington's  Writings,  v.  42 1,  425. 


^ET.  21.]  HAMILTON.  473 

tempt  any  thing  against  them  with  a  prospect  of  success, 
Lee  was  ordered  to  make  his  disposition  for  the  attack, 
and  to  keep  his  troops  constantly  lying  upon  their  arms, 
to  be  in  readiness  at  the  shortest  notice.  This  was  done 
with  respect  to  the  troops  under  Washington's  immediate 
command. 

An  express  announcing,  about  five  in  the  morning,  that 
the  front  of  the  enemy  had  begun  their  march,  Hamilton, 
who  had  rejoined  the  marquis  before  break  of  day,  as 
soon  as  he  saw  the  probability  of  the  van  of  the  advanced 
corps  being  engaged  with  the  enemy,  returned  to  Wash- 
ington, who  was  coming  up  with  the  main  body,  and  ad- 
vised *  him  to  throw  the  right  wing  of  the  army  round  by 
the  right,  and  to  follow  with  the  left  wing  directly  in 
General  Lee's  rear  to  support  him,  who  had  been  ordered 
to  move  on  and  attack  the  enemy,  unless  there  should  be 
very  powerful  reasons  to  the  contrary,  informing  him  that 
the  main  body  was  marching  to  sustain  him.  An  order 
was  also  immediately  given  to  Greene  to  file  off  with  the 
right  wing,  and  take  a  position  so  as  to  protect  the  right 
of  the  army,  which  was  done.  Hamilton  then  went  for- 
ward to  reconnoitre.  Lee,  after  having  advanced  a  short 
distance,  ordered  a  halt ;  he  then  again  moved  forward, 
and  in  half  an  hour  after,  Wayne  was  directed  by  Lee 
to  leave  his  own  detachment,  and  take  command  of  the 
front.  Scott's  brigade  then  advanced  up  the  morass  on 
one  side,  Varnum's  following.  Wayne,  on  reaching  the 
front,  sent  intelligence  to  Lee,  that  the  enemy  were  mov- 
ing in  great  disorder,  and  urged  him  to  push  on  the  rear. 
He  continued  to  advance,  crossing  the  morass  near  the 

road  where  they  were  marching.    Their  whole  force  then 
» 

*  Proceedings  of  a  court-martial  for  the  trial  of  General  Lee,  held  at  Bruns- 
wick, July  4th,  1778.  Fitzgerald's  testimony,  p.  23.  Tilghman's,  p.  26. 
Laurens'  testimony,  p.  18.  Forsmau's,  p.  10.  Stewart's,  p.  15. 


474  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

in  view  halted ;  a  body  of  British  horse,  covered  by  in 
fantry,  instantly  charged  the  foremost  regiment  under 
Colonel  Butler,  who,  pouring  in  a  well-directed  fire,  broke 
them,  and  threw  their  covering  party  into  disorder.  The 
pursuit  was  continued,  when  the  enemy  opened  a  fire 
from  their  artillery,  inclining  to  the  right  of  the  Ameri- 
cans, in  order  to  gain  an  eminence,  where  their  veterans 
formed  with  admirable  coolness,  as  they  came  up  in  suc- 
cession. Wayne,  hoping  to  gain  the  advantage  of  the 
ground,  formed  Scott's  brigade,  under  a  heavy  discharge 
of  artillery,  and  still  pressed  on,  when  an  order  was  re- 
ceived from  Lee,  who,  Hamilton  states,*  "meditated  the 
disgrace  of  the  Americans,"  TO  RETREAT.  The  enemy 
seeing  the  situation  of  this  detachment  wholly  unsup- 
ported, passed  a  column  through  the  village,  and  gained  a 
position  between  it  and  the  remainder  of  the  army,  when 
they  again  made  a  spirited  charge  with  their  horse,  and 
the  whole  advance  was  compelled  to  retire  ;  which  they 
did,  under  cover  of  a  wood,  until  they  reached  the  body 
under  Lee.  Hamilton  having  urged  in  vain  that  posses- 
sion should  be  taken  of  a  hill  which  commanded  the  plain 
on  which  the  enemy  were  coming  up,  and  that  there  the 
battle  should  be  fought,  f  rejoined  Washington  to  report 
what  he  had  done.  He  thus  represented  the  situation  of 
the  advance  ;  'J  that  when  he  came  up  with  Lee,  the  ene- 
my was  drawn  up  with  their  right  near  a  wood,  their  left 
in  open  ground  covered  by  cavalry ;  that  the  American 
columns  were  within  cannon  shot  of  the  enemy ;  that  he 
rode  up  to  the  front  of  the  column,  and  perceiving  that 

*  "  There  let  me  call  to  your  indignant  view — the  flower  of  the  American 
infantry  flying  before  an  enemy  that  scarcely  dared  to  pursue — vanquished 
without  a  blow — vanquished  by  their  obedience  to  the  commands  of  a  leader, 
who  meditated  their  disgrace." — Hamilton's  Works,  iii.  484. 

•J-  Lee's  Defence,  p.  53.  J  Hamilton's  testimony,  p.  20. 


^ET.  21.]  HAMILTON.  475 

their  cavalry  were  filing  off  towards  the  left,  as  if  to  at- 
tempt Lee's  right,  he  suggested  to  him  that  a  column 
should  wheel  on  their  right  and  attack  them,  that  this  sug- 
gestion was  approved  ;  and  Hamilton,  by  Lee's  order,  di- 
rected La  Fayette  to  wheel  by  his  right,  gain,  and  attack 
the  enemy's  flank.  At  this  instant,  while  Washington 
was  standing  with  his  arm  extended  over  his  horse,  during 
a  halt  for  a  few  moments,  where  the  roads  forked,  a  small 
party  came  rapidly  up,  from  whom  he  learned  that  the 
advanced  corps  was  on  the  retreat.  He  instantly  sprung 
upon  his  horse,  and  having  ordered  Colonel  Harrison,  who 
had  returned  from  reconnoitring,  to  ascertain  the  truth, 
pushed  forward  to  the  rear  of  the  advanced  corps,  and 
rallied  the  retreating  troops. 

To  every  inquiry  as  to  the  cause  of  the  retreat,  an  un- 
satisfactory answer  was  given.  Colonel  Ogden,  who  fol- 
lowed, exclaimed  with  an  oath,  "  we  are  flying  from  a 
shadow."  The  troops  were  then  in  the  greatest  disorder, 
ignorant  what  direction  to  pursue. 

Washington  meanwhile  reached  the  knoll  where  Lee 
was, — he  immediately  ordered  Wayne  to  renew  the  com- 
bat, directed  cannon  to  be  brought  up,  which  was  done 
by  Colonel  Oswald,  and  a  brisk  cannonade  ensued.  Then 
calling  up  Colonels  Ramsay  and  Stewart,  he  vehemently 
exclaimed,  that  they  were  the  officers  on  whom  he  should 
depend  to  give  the  enemy  a  check.  While  these  regi- 
ments were  forming,  Lee  approached.  Washington  de- 
manded of  him,  in  haste,  the  cause  of  the  retreat.  He 
replied — "  Sir,"  "  Sir,"  with  hesitation,  stating  that  it  was 
owing  to  contradictory  information  and  disobedience  of 
orders,  and  that  he  did  not  choose  to  beard  the  British 
army  in  such  a  situation  ;  and  that  besides,  the  attack 
was  contrary  to  his  opinion.  Washington  replied,  that 


476  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

whatever  was  his  opinion,  he  expected  his  orders  would 
have  been  obeyed.* 

At  this  moment,  Hamilton  rode  up,  and  exclaimed  to 
Lee,  under  strong  excitement,  "  I  will  stay  with  you,  my 
dear  general,  and  die  with  you.  Let  us  all  die  here,  rather 
than  retreat."  Perceiving  the  enemy  advancing  on  the 
artillery,  which,  by  the  orders  of  General  Knox  had  been 
posted  on  the  right,f  he  advised  that  a  detachment  should 
march  to  their  succor ;  when,  after  a  short  interval,  Col- 
onel Livingston  pushed  forward  and  repulsed  them  with 
spirit. 

Hamilton  then  rode  towards  the  rear  ;  when  finding 
Colonel  Olney  J  retreating  with  Varnum's  brigade,  and 
fearing  that  the  artillery  in  their  front  would  be  lost,  he 
ordered  the  brigade  to  form  along  a  fence  near  him,  with 
all  possible  despatch,  which  they  immediately  did,  and 
charged  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet,  where  Hamilton,  who 
had  assisted  in  forming  them,  and  had  placed  himself  at 
their  head,  had  his  horse  shot  under  him.  Hurt  by  the 
fall,§  and  overcome  by  the  heat,  (for  he  had  ridden 
throughout  the  action  without  his  hat,)  he  was  compelled 
to  retire. 

This  party,  after  exchanging  a  sharp  fire,  gave  time 
for  the  artillery  to  fall  back  ;  but,  too  weak  to  prevent  the 
enemy  from  outflanking  them,  retreated  with  consider- 
able loss. 

These  two  successive  checks  by  Livingston  and  Olney, 
afforded  time  to  make  a  disposition  of  the  left  wing,  and 

*  The  inquiry  having  been,  after  Washington's  decease,  made  of  Hamilton, 
whether  in  this  interview  he  was  angered  to  cursing,  Hamilton  replied: 
"  Washington  was  modest.  He  was  careful  of  his  words.  He  had  not  time 
to  curse.  He  had  to  retrieve  the  day." 

t  Hamilton's  testimony,  p.  20.  }  Colonel  Olney's  testimony,  p.  40 

g  Hamilton's  testimony,  p.  21. 


Mr.  21.]  HAMILTON.  477 

10  form  the  second  line  of  the  array  upon  an  eminence, 
and  in  a  copse  in  the  rear  covered  by  a  morass.  On  this 
elevation,  Stirling,  who  commanded  that  wing,  placed 
cannon,  which  protected  the  charges  of  the  infantry, 
produced  a  great  impression  on  the  enemy,  and  stopped 
their  progress. 

Greene,  as  soon  as  he  heard  of  the  retreat,  pushed 
forward,  and  selected  a  position  on  the  right,  which  Ham- 
ilton had  advised  Lee  to  take,  crowned  it  ~vith  artillery, 
and  kept  off  the  British  advancing  on  the  right,  while  he 
severely  enfiladed  the  left.  Wayne  then  advanced,  and 
pouring  in  a  close  fire,  drove  the  enemy  beyond  the 
morass,  near  which  Butler  had  at  first  repulsed  them. 
Washington  followed  up  the  attack,  by  orders  to  General 
Poor,  with  two  brigades,  to  move  on  the  right,  and  Wood- 
ford  on  their  left,  while  Knox  brought  his  artillery  to  bear 
upon  their  front.  These  dispositions  were  made  ;  but  ob- 
stacles prevented  their  reaching  the  enemy  until  night  had 
closed  in. 

The  Americans,  worn  out  by  the  intense  heat,  reposed 
on  the  field  of  battle,  hoping  to  renew  the  action  the  en- 
suing day  ;  but  the  enemy  taking  advantage  of  the  dark- 
ness, having  removed  their  wounded,  marched  about  mid- 
night in  such  silence,  that  their  retreat  was  unperceived, 
and  succeeded  in  embarking  for  New  York  at  Sandy 
Hook.  Washington,  unfortunately,  believing  that  no  se- 
rious injury  ceuld  be  inflicted  upon  them,  leaving  only  a 
small  force  to  hover  around  them,  moved  up  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Hudson. 

This  narrative  shows  the  conspicuous  services  of 
Hamilton  in  this  engagement.  A  letter  from  camp,  pub- 
lished at  the  time,  thfes  speaks  of  the  conduct  of  Wash- 
ington's staff:  "  I  am  happy  to  have  it  in  my  power  to 
mention  the  merit  of  Colonel  Hamilton.  He  was  inces- 


478  THE    KE PUBLIC.  [1778 

sant  in  his  endeavors  during  the  whole  day,  in  reconnoi- 
tring the  enemy,  and  in  rallying  and  charging ;  but 
whether  he  or  Colbnel  Laurens  deserves  most  of  our 
commendation  is  somewhat  doubtful — both  had  their 
horses  shot  under  them,  and  both  exhibited  singular  proofs 
of  bravery.  They  seemed  to  court  death,  under  our 
doubtful  circumstances ;  and  triumphed  over  it,  as  the 
face  of  war  changed  in  our  favor.  Fitzgerald  had  a 
slight  contusion  with  a  musket  ball ;  he  and  Meade  claim 
the  highest  encomiums. 

"  Colonel  Olney,  at  the  heaa  of  Varnum's  brigade, 
made  a  successful  charge  with  the  bayonet ;  Colonel  Bar- 
ber received  a  ball  through  the  side.  The  artillery  under 
Knox  and  Oswald  were  much  distinguished." 

As  to  Washington,  Hamilton  remarks  in  a  private  let- 
ter to  Boudinot :  "  I  never  saw  the  General  to  so  much 
advantage.  His  coolness  and  firmness  were  admirable. 
He  instantly  took  measures  for  checking  the  enemy's  ad- 
vance, and  giving  time  to  the  army,  which  was  very  near, 
to  form  and  make  a  proper  disposition.  He  then  rode 
back  and  had  the  troops  formed  on  a  very  advantageous 
piece  of  ground ;  in  which,  and  in  other  transactions  of 
the  day,  General  Greene  and  Lord  Stirling  rendered  very 
essential  service,  and  did  themselves  great  honor.  Amer- 
ica owes  a  great  deal  to  General  Washington  for  this  day's 
work.  A  general  rout,  dismay  and  disgrace,  would  have 
attended  the  whole  army  in  any  other  hands  but  his.  By 
his  own  good  sense  and  fortitude,  he  turned  the  fate  of  the 
day.  Other  officers  have  great  merit  in  performing  their 
parts  well,  but  he  directed  the  whole  with  the  skill  of  a 
master  workman.  He  did  not  hug  himself  at  a  distance 
and  leave  an  Arnold  to  win  laurels  for  him,  but  by  his  own 
presence  he  brought  order  out  of  confusion,  animated  his 
troops,  and  led  them  to  success."  After  a  tribute  to 


MT.  21.]  HAMILTON.  479 

Wayne,  Stewart,  Ramsey,  Olncy,  Livingston,  Barber, 
Cillcy,  Parker,  Craig  and  Oswald,  he  observes  :  "  The  be- 
havior of  the  officers  and  men  was  such  as  could  not 
easily  be  surpassed.  Our  troops,  after  the  first  impulse 
from  mismanagement,  behaved  with  more  spirit  and 
moved  with  greater  order  than  the  British  troops.  You 
know  my  way  of  thinking  of  our  army,  and  that  I  am 
not  apt  to  flatter  it.  I  assure  you,  I  never  was  pleased 
with  them  before  this  day.  What  think  you  now  of 
General  Lee  ?  Whatever  a  court-martial  may  decide,  1 
shall  continue  to  believe  and  say, — his  conduct  was  mon- 
strous and  unpardonable." 

Earnest  dissensions  arose  in  the  army  in  respect  to 
Lcc.  The  great  majority  condemned  him.  His  imme- 
diate friends  sought  to  exculpate  his  conduct  on  the 
grounds  of  discretionary  orders  and  alleged  contradictory 
intelligence. 

Certain  it  is,  that  Lee  rejoined  the  army  with  undi- 
minished  disesteem  of  Washington.  A  few  days  before 
this  battle  he  wrote  to  Rush :  "  You  are  struck  with  the 
great  events,  changes,  and  new  characters  which  have 
appeared  on  the  stage  since  I  saw  you  last ;  but  I  am 
more  struck  with  the  admirable  efficacy  of  blunders.  It 
seemed  to  be  a  trial  of  skill  which  party  should  outdo  the 
other ;  and  it  is  hard  to  say  which  played  the  deepest 
strokes  ;  but  it  was  a  capital  one  of  ours,  which  certainly 
gave  the  happy  turn  which  affairs  have  taken.  Upon  my 
soul,  it  was  lime  for  fortune  to  interpose,  or  we  were  in- 
evitably lost." 

The  day  after  the  action,  he  wrote  an  offensive  letter 
to  Washington,  claiming  the  merit  of  the  victory ;  de- 
manding reparation  for  the  injury  committed  ;  and  a  spe- 
cification of  the  grounds  upon  which  he  had  rebuked  him. 
Washington  replied,  that  what  he  said  "  was  dictated  by 


480  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

duty,  and  warranted  by  the  occasion."  He  informed  him 
that  he  should  have  an  opportunity  of  justifying  himself 
from  the  charges  "of  a  breach  of  orders;  of  misbehavior 
before  the  enemy  in  not  attacking  them  as  he  had  been 
directed  ;  and  in  making  an  unnecessary,  disorderly,  and 
shameful  retreat."  i  "  You  cannot  afford  me  greater  pleas- 
ure," was  Lee's  reply,  "  than  in  giving  me  the  opportunity 
of  showing  to  America  the  sufficiency  of  her  respective 
servants.  I  trust  that  temporary  power  of  office,  and 
the  tinsel  dignity  attending  it,  will  not  be  able,  by  all  the 
mists  they  can  raise,  to  obfuscate  the  bright  rays  of  truth." 
He  was  on  the  same  day  arrested,  the  charge  of  disrespect 
to  the  eommander-in-chief  being  added  to  the  others  ;  and 
a  court-martial  was  convened  to  meet  on  the  fourth  of  July. 
In  the  spirit  of  these  letters  he  wrote  to  Robert  Mor- 
ris, in  Congress,  the  day  before  his  trial : .  "  A  hellish  plan 
was  formed  (and  I  may  say,  at  least,  not  discouraged  by 
head-quarters)  to  destroy  for  ever  my  honor  and  reputa- 
tion. I  shall  not  trouble  you  at  present  with  the  details 
of  the  action,  but  by  all  that's  sacred,  General  Wash- 
ington had  scarcely  any  more  to  do  in  it  than  to  strip 
the  dead.  The  general  has  the  madness  to  charge  me 
with  making  a  shameful  retreat.  I  never  retreated  in 
fact  (for  till  I  joined  him  it  was  not  a  retreat,  but  a  ne- 
cessary, and  I  may  say  in  my  own  defence,  masterly 
mano3uvre).  I  say  I  never  retreated,  but  by  his  positive 
orders,  who  ridiculously  sent  me  out  of  the  field  when  the 
victory  was  assured.  Such  is  my  recompense  for  having 
sacrificed  my  friends,  my  connections,  and  perhaps  my 
fortune ;  for  having  twice  extricated  this  man  and  his 
whole  army  out  of  perdition;  and  inow  having  given  him 
the  only  victory  he  ever  tasted."  Parts  of  this  letter  he 
requested  him  to  read  to  Richard  Henry  Lee,  to  Duer,  and 
"others  you  think  prudent." 


^Ex.  21.]  HAMILTON.  481 

The  court,  over  which  Stirling  presided,*  began  its 
session  on  the  fourth  of  July,  and  adjourned  on  the 
twelfth  of  August,  after  several  interruptions,  having 
found  him  guilty  of  all  the  charges,  omitting  the  term 
"shameful."  Lee  was  suspended  from  command  for 
twelve  months,  a  sentence  which,  with  a  divided  :vote,t 
was  confirmed  by  Congress,  .t,  ,.. 

The  trial  was  published  by  order  of  Congress.  A  vin- 
dication by  Lee  was  also  published,  followed  by  an  article 
which  he  enclosed  to  Gates,  assailing  Washington  and 
defending  Conway. 

An  answer  was  contemplated  by  Laurens,  who  wrote 
to  Hamilton  : 

"  You  have  seen,  and  by  this  time  considered,  General 
Lee's  infamous  publication.  I  have  collected  some  hints 
for  an  answer  ;  but  I  do  not  think,  either  that  I  can  rely 
upon  my  own  knowledge  of  facts  and  style  to  answer  him 
fully,  or  that  it  would  be  prudent  to  undertake  it  without 
counsel.  An  affair  of  this  kind  ought  to  be  passed  over 
in  total  silence,  or  answered  in  a  masterly  manner. 

"  The  ancient  secretary  is  the  Recueil  of  modern  his- 
tory and  anecdotes,  and  will  give  them  to  us  with  candor, 
elegance,  and  perspicuity.  The  pen  of  Junius  is  in  your 
hand ;  and  I  think  you  will,  without  difficulty,  expose  in 
his  defence,  letters,  and  last  production,  such  a  tissue  of 
falsehood  and  inconsistency,  as  will  satisfy  the  world,  and 
put  him  forever  to  silence.: .-*  UK 

*  Besides,  were  four  generals  and  eight  colonels. 

f  December  5th,  1778. — The  votes  in  Congress  were  as  follows: — 

Negatives — Messrs.  Whipple,  N.  H. ;  S.  Adams,  Lovell,  Mass. ;  Carmichael, 
Maryland;  M.  Smith,  Virginia;  Harriett,  N.  C.  ;  Langworthy,  Georgia — 7. 

Affirmative. — Messrs.  Frost,  ]jjjT.  H.  ;  Holten,  Mass. ;  Collins,  Rhode  Island ; 
Sherman,  Ellsworth,  Connecticut;  Scudder,  New  Jersey;   Searle,  Pennsylva- 
nia ;  Henry,  Maryland ;    F.  L   Lee,   Virginia ;  Penn,  Williams.   N.  0.  ;   Lau- 
ren?, Dmyton,  S.  C. — 13. 
VOL.  L— 31 


482  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

"  I  think  the  affair  will  be  definitively  decided  in  Con- 
gress this  day.  He  has  found  means  to  league  himself 
with  the  old  faction,  and  to  gain  a  great  many  partisans. 

Adieu,  my  dear  boy,  I  shall  set  out  for  camp  to-mor- 
row." 

This  purpose  was  abandoned.  Washington  had  main- 
tained a  dignified  silence,  and  it  was  not  becoming  that 
a  public  vindication  should  emanate  from  his  military 
family. 

The  biting  sarcasms  and  insulting  deportment  of  Lee 
at  the  trial,  nevertheless,  rankled  in  the  breast  of  Lau- 
rens  ;  and  soon  after  the  investigation  by  Congress  closed, 
a  challenge  was  delivered  by  Hamilton  to  Lee  in  his 
friend's  behalf.  A  duel  followed,  in  which  Lee  was 
slightly  wounded.  He  subsequently  disavowed  the  lan- 
guage imputed  to  him. 

Neither  Lee  nor  his  friends  were  silent.  Rush  writes 
to  Gates :  "  The  influence  of  a  party  drove  me  from  pub- 
lic life.  I  see  Lee  and  Mifflin  separated  from  the  throng 
that  occupy  the  summit  of  the  mountain.  See,  my  good 
friend,  how  they  beckon  to  you  to  retire  into  the  back- 
ground of  the  picture  with  them,  before  you  are  thrust 
from  your  rank,  and  degraded  in  your  character,  by  the 
slander  and  persecutions  which  have  ruined  them.  You 
have  conquered  an  army,  and  saved  your  country.  The 
war  is  nearly  over,  so  that  you  cannot  retrieve  your  ill 
fortune,  nor  atone  for  your  crimes  by  losing  a  province 
or  wasting  an  army  hereafter.  Nothing  but  a  resignation 
can  save  your  reputation,  or  restore  you  again  to  the  favor 
of  the  public." 

Lee,  in  terms  of  disrespect  to  Washington  unfit  to  be 
quoted,  also  urged  Gates  to  resign.  Ere  the  period  of  his 
own  sentence  had  expired,  upon  a  rumor  that  his  commis- 
sion was  to  be  revoked,  he  wrote  a  hurried  offensive  note 


^Er.  21.]  HAMILTON".  483 

to  Congress,  and  was  forthwith  dismissed  the  service.  In 
decorous  terms  he  sought  to  soften  the  offence,  disavow- 
ing a  desire  to  be  restored.  Degraded  and  soured,  his 
views  changed.  "  The  New  England  men  excepted,  the 
rest  of  the  Americans,"  he  wrote,  "  though  they  fancy 
and  call  themselves  republicans,  have  not  a  single  repub- 
lican qualification  or  idea.  They  have  always  a  God  of 
the  day,  whose  infallibility  is  not  to  be  disputed  :  to  him 
all  the  people  must  bow  down  and  sing  Hosannas."  Ere 
the  war  ended  General  Lee  sickened  and  died,  a  sad  in- 
stance of  genius,  and  courage,  and  character  sacrificed  to 
selfish  ambition  and  capricious  vanity.* 

This  year  terminated  the  life  of  a  very  different  per- 
son, James  Otis,  the  early,  eloquent,  enlightened,  disinter- 
ested, intrepid  advocate  of  the  liberty  of  his  country. 
His  zeal  in  her  behalf  had  shaken  his  reason,  and  as  he 
wras  standing  at  his  door  looking  into  the  heavens,  a  bolt 
of  lightning  struck  him ;  a  fate,  which,  in  other  days, 
would  have  been  felt  to  have  consecrated  the  victim. 

*  NOTE. — "  Treason  of  General  Charles  Lee." 


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nl  •  .00*7103  «)H)  bdsaimaib*  iforwriftol  . 
-//oyjjatfo  to3aa1)<>  ?>H*  nofton  oj  j<igt»oa  -lit 
eirf  rhoniBoa  bns  bobBi^f  I     Jmotefn  r/d  ol 

;>ifT  **     . 


•dwj-n  »fgcu«  a  ion  T/sif  (Bacoikffiq 
'to  boO  «  <S//;W!B  y/firf  vr>rfT  arjfai 
ffiijf  ot  :  f.»-ijiiq?.ib  -xf  <•}  ion 

9i3     '\a£run«oH  ^u.'g  b<r»  jiwob  w<xi  Juom  olqoaq  al 
CHAPTER    XVII. 


WASHINGTON,  because  of  their  recent  fatigues  and  the  in- 
tense heat,  proceeded  with  his  army  to  Brunswick,  and 
thence  to  Paramus  in  the  Jerseys,  on  his  way  to  the  Hud 
son.  At  this  place  he  received  the  thanks  of  Congress, 
which  were  acknowledged,  in  his  name,  by  Hamilton. 
Here  also,  on  the  thirteenth  of  July,  advices  came  of  the 
arrival  of  a  French  fleet  upon  the  coast. 

France  was  now  looking  to  ocean  triumphs,  flattered 
by  the  promise  of  her  immense  military  marine  at  Brest 
and  Toulon,  the  former  comprising  a  fleet  of  forty-five 
ships  of  the  line,  thirty-seven  frigates,  and  eighteen  lighter 
vessels  ;  while  at  Toulon  were  twenty-seven  high  deck- 
ers, eighteen  frigates,  and  a  large  number  of  corvettes 
and  smaller  barks.  The  officers  were  nobles  of  the  first 
rank,  wearing  their  scarlet  uniforms  and  aiguillettes  re- 
splendent with  gold,  with  whom,  next  in  command,  were 
associated  officers  of  the  blue  —  rude,  hardy  men,  familiar 
with  the  sea.  Under  the  same  white  flag  also  sailed, 
members  of  the  great  families  of  Provence,  Brittany, 
Guienne  and  Languedoc  —  Barras,  Saint  Laurent,  Bonne- 
val,  pupils  of  the  royal  school  of  the  marine.  The  whole 
thus  composed,  formed  an  indigested,  ill-governed  mass, 
whom  neither  the  perils  of  the  sea,  nor  mid-battle,  nor  the 


/Ex.  21.]  HAMILTON. 

laws  against  duelling  could  restrain  from  mutual  re- 
proaches and  rencontres. 

The  larger  vessels  indicate  the  provinces  and  cities 
whose  munificent  gifts  they  were,  the  "  Languedoc,"  tht 
Provence,"  the  "  Marseillais,"  the  "  Lyons." 

The  command  of  the  squadron  which  left  Toulon  the 
twelfth  of  April,  now  near  the  American  coast,  was  con- 
fided to  the  Count  D'Estaing,  a  native  of  Auvergne,  .nd 
relation  of  La  Fayette,  a  colonel  of  a  regiment  of  in- 
fantry, appointed  a  vice-admiral.  Such  was  the  discon- 
tent at  the  elevation  of  a  soldier  above  meritorious  and 
skilful  sailors,  Bougainville,  De  Suffren  and  others,  that 
D'Estaing  felt  himself  compelled  to  announce  from  the 
deck  of  the  Languedoc,  his  sense  of  their  feelings  and  his 
determination  to  require  implicit  obedience.* 

The  Delaware  was  his  place  of  destination,  where,  but 
for  his  protracted  voyage  of  nearly  ninety  days,  the  British 
fleet  under  Lord  Howe,  and,  in  all  probability,  the  army 
near  Philadelphia,  would  have  been  captured.  Arriving 
at  its  capes,  he  apprised  Congress  of  the  fact,  and  failing 
in  the  great,  first  object  of  his  mission,  proceeded  to  Sandy 
Hook. 

To  carry  into  effect  the  orders  of  Congress,  Washing- 
ton immediately  sent  forward  Colonel  Laurens  with  a  let- 
ter to  D'Estaing,  written  by  Hamilton,  advising  him  of 
his  intended  march  to  the  Hudson,  when  he  proposed  to 
approach  the  enemy's  lines  near  New  York,  supposing  it 
to  be  the  intention  of  the  French  admiral  to  enter  its 
harbor. 

The  co-operation  of  the  force  under  Gates  being  con- 
templated, Hamilton  requested  him  to  meet  Washington 
in  order  to  a  consultatidn.  D'Estaing  having  sent  Major 
Chouin  to  confer  with  him,  Washington  wrote  the  admi- 

*  Capefiquc,  ti.  190. 


486  THE   EEPUBLIO.  [1778. 

ral :  "  The  difficulty  of  doing  justice  by  letters  to  matters 
of  such  variety  and  importance  as  those  which  now  en- 
gage our  deliberations,  has  induced  me  to  send  to  you 
Lieutenant-colonel  Hamilton,  another  of  my  aides,  in 
whom  I  place  entire  confidence.  He  will  be  able  to 
make  you  perfectly  acquainted  with  my  sentiments,  and 
to  satisfy  any  inquiries  you  may  think  proper  to  propose  ; 
and  I  would  wish  you  to  consider  the  informat  on  he  may 
give  you  as  coming  from  myself." 

Two  objects  were  in  view,  an  attack  upon  New  York, 
or  upon  Rhode  Island. 

The  expectation  of  a  French  fleet,  and  the  probability 
of  a  co-operation  with  it,  among  other  objects,  upon  the 
latter  station  of  the  enemy,  rendered  the  selection  of  the 
officer  to  command  in  that  quarter  a  matter  of  high  mo- 
ment. The  appointment  of  Putnam  was  contemplated. 
Washington  learning  this  purpose,  wrote  to  the  committee 
of  co-operation.  "  They  also  know  with  more  certainty 
what  will  be  the  determination  of  Congress  respecting 
General  Putnam,  and,  of  course,  whether  the  appointment 
of  him  to  such  a  command  as  that  at  Rhode  Island  would 
fall  within  their  views ;  it  being  incumbent  on  me  to  ob- 
serve, that  with  such  materials  as  I  am  furnished,  the 
work  must  go  on  ;  whether  well  or  ill,  is  another  matter ; 
if,  therefore,  he  and  others  are  not  laid  aside,  they  must  be 
placed  where  they  can  least  injure  the  service."  * 

Sullivan,  being  charged  with  the  command,  was  or- 
dered to  call  for  a  body  of  five  thousand  New  England 
militia,  and  to  prepare  for  a  descent.  Though  this  object 
should  not  be  pursued,  these  preparations  would  distract 
and  deceive  the  enemy,  and  throw  them  off  their  guard 
at  New  York. 

On  the  twentieth  of  July,  Hamilton  wrote  to  Wash- 

*  March  6,  1778 


c**- 


U 


^T.  21.]  HAMILTON.  487 

ington  from  Black  Point :  "  He  (Count  d'Estaing)  has 
had  the  river  sounded,  and  finds  he  cannot  enter.  He 
will  sail  for  Rhode  Island  to-morrow  evening.  In  the 
mean  time,  he  is  making  demonstrations  to  deceive  the 
enemy,  and  beget  an  opinion  that  he  intends  to  Operate  in 
this  quarter."  Three  days  after,  he  wrote  to  the  com- 
mander-in-chief  from  Newark  :  "  I  need  not  suggest  to 
your  excellency,  that  an  essential  part  of  the  Rhode 
Island  plan,  is,  to  take  every  possible  measure  to  watch 
the  enemy's  motions,  and  to  establish  expresses  from  place 
to  place,  to  give  the  Count  instant  information  of  any 
movement  among  their  fleet.  This  will  enable  him  to  be 
in  time  to  intercept  them,  should  they  attempt  to  evacuate 
New  York,  while  he  is  at  Rhode  Island ;  and  will,  in  gen- 
eral, facilitate  the  intercourse  and  co-operation  between 
him  and  your  excellency."  He  asked  indulgence  for  not 
immediately  returning,  not  meaning  "  to  delay  more  than  a 
moderate  attention  to  my  frail  constitution  may  make  not 
improper."  To  strengthen  Sullivan,  La  Fayette  was  or- 
dered to  march  to  Providence  with  a  detachment  of  the 
best  troops  ;  and  Colonel  Laurens  was  despatched  thither 
to  receive  D'Estaing. 

The  recent  treaties  with  France  had  raised  the  expec- 
tation of  the  French  officers,  seeking  commissions  in  the 
American  army.  Annoyed  by  their  importunities,  Wash- 
ington again  wrote  in  warm  terms  discouraging  their  pre- 
ferment. Indicating  the  danger  that  the  experienced 
American  officers  would  resign,  he  asks — "  Is  it  consistent 
with  justice  or  prudence  to  promote  these  military  fortune 
hunters  at  the  hazard  of  your  army  ?  Baron  Steuben,  I 
now  find,  is  also  wanting  to  quit  his  inspectorship  for  a 
command  in  the  line. '  This  will  be  productive  of  much 
discontent  to  the  brigadiers.  In  a  word,  although  I  think 
the  Baron  an  excellent  officer,  I  do  most  devoutly  wish, 


488  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1776. 

that  we  had  not  a  single  foreigner  among  us  except  the 
Marquis  de  La  Fayette,  who  acts  from  very  different 
principles  from  those  which  govern  the  rest."  In  a  sub- 
sequent letter  to  the  President  of  Congress,  from  Ham- 
ilton's pen,  he  stated  the  Baron's  intention  to  resign,  ad- 
mitted his  usefulness,  but  deprecated  his  having  an  actual 
and  permanent  command  in  the  line,  "  as  productive  of 
much  dissatisfaction  and  extensive  ill  consequences." 

On  the  same  day,  the  twenty-sixth  of  July,  Hamilton 
wrote  to  Boudinot,  suggesting  expedients  to  retain  the  ser- 
vices of  Steuben,  and  to  save  the  feelings  of  his  fellow- 
soldiers  : 

"  Baron  Steuben  will  do  me  the  honor  to  deliver  you 
this.  He  waits  upon  Congress  in  a  temper  which  I  very 
much  regret — discontented  with  his  situation,  and  almost 
resolved  to  quit  the  service.  You  know  we  have  all  the 
best  opinion  of  this  gentleman's  military  merit,  and  shall 
of  course  consider  his  leaving  the  army  as  a  loss  to  it. 
Whether  any  expedient  can  be  adopted  to  reconcile  diffi- 
culties, and  retain  him  in  the  service,  at  the  same  time  that 
no  disgust  is  given  to  others  who  ought  not  to  be  dis- 
gusted, I  cannot  certainly  determine.  But  I  should  con- 
ceive it  would  not  be  impossible  to  find  such  an  expe- 
dient. You  have  no  doubt  heard  while  you  were  with 
the  army,  of  the  obstacles  thrown  in  his  way  by  many 
of  the  general  officers,  excited  to  it  by  Lee  and  Mifflin, 
as  I  believe,  in  the  execution  of  the  inspectorship  ;  and 
you  have,  it  is  equally  probable,  heard  of  the  arrangement 
the  General  was  in  a  manner  obliged  to  adopt,  to  silence 
the  clamors  which  existed  among  them,  and  place  the  in- 
spectorate upon  a  footing  more  conformable  to  their  ideas. 
The  opposition  the  Baron  met  with  in  this  case  was  one 
cause  of  dissatisfaction  to  him.  In  our  march  from 
Brunswick,  as  the  Baron  was  unemployed,  and  there  was 


MT.  21 .]  HAMILTON.  489 

a  great  deficiency  of  general  officers,  notwithstanding  the 
ideas  of  the  army  are  against  giving  a  command  in  the 
line  to  a  person  vested  with  an  office  similar  to  that  held 
by  him,  the  General  ventured  to  give  him  the  tempo- 
rary command  of  a  division  during  the  march,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  the  command  of  a  wing  devolved  upon 
him.  This  was  a  source  of  offence  to  many.  When  we 
came  near  the  White  Plains  the  General  thanked  him  in 
general  orders  for  his  services,  and  requested  he  would 
resume  the  exercise  of  his  former  office.  To  this,  on  ac- 
count of  the  opposition  he  had  already  met  with,  and  from 
the  original  plan  for  the  inspectorship  being  mutilated,  he 
discovered  very  great  disinclination,  and  expressed  desire 
to  preserve  a  command  in  the  line;  and  from  some  con- 
versation we  have  had  together,  I  apprehend  he  meant  to 
resign  his  present  appointment,  if  he  cannot  have  a  com- 
mand suited  to  his  rank  annexed  to  it.  You  will  see  by 
the  General's  letters  what  are  his  sentiments  both  with  re- 
spect to  the  duties  of  the  inspectorship,  and  the  Baron's 
holding  a  command  in  the  line.  Far  be  it  from  me  to 
Avish  to  contravene  his  views  ;  you  may  be  assured  they 
cannot  be  essentially  departed  from  without  very  serious 
inconvenience.  But  if  any  thing  could  be  done  consistent 
with  them  to  satisfy  the  Baron,  it  would  be  extremely  de- 
sirable. Perhaps  the  principle  on  which  the  General's  ar- 
rangement is  formed,  may  be  preserved,  and  at  the  same 
time,  the  objects  of  the  inspectorship  enlarged,  so  as  to 
render  it  a  more  important  employment.  Perhaps  a  reso- 
lution of  Congress  giving  the  Baron  a  right  to  be  em- 
ployed on  detachments,  might,  for  the  present,  compen- 
sate for  the  want  of  a  permanent  command  in  the  line, 
and  might  not  be  disagreeable  to  the  officers.  You 
can  sound  him  on  these  heads.  I  need  not  caution  you 
that  this  is  a  matter  of  great  delicacy  and  importance, 


THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

and  that  every  step  taken  in  it  ought  to  be  well  consid- 
ered." 

The  suggestion  of  Hamilton  was  met  by  Congress  so 
far  as  to  request  him  in  a  formal  vote  "  to  repair  to  Rhode 
Island,  and  give  his  advice  and  assistance  to  General  Sul- 
livan and  the  army  under  his  command." 

Greene  was  now  ordered  to  take  command  of  a  part 
of  the  troops  near  Rhode  Island,  the  residue  of  the  de- 
tachments to  be  in  charge  of  La  Fayette.  This  arrange- 
ment was  communicated  to  him  in  a  letter  by  Hamilton  in 
behalf  of  Washington,  in  well  chosen  terms.  La  Fayette 
acceded  to  it  in  a  most  becoming  manner. 

D'Estaing  arrived  off  Rhode  Island  before  the  army 
of  co-operation  was  ready  to  act.  In  the  interval,  the 
British  fleet,  being  reinforced,  sailed  for  New  Port.  A 
concerted  movement  of  the  French  and  Americans  upon 
the  enemy  was  to  be  made  on  the  tenth  of  August.  Two 
days  previous,  D'Estaing  sailed  up  the  channel  between 
Rhode  and  Conanicut  Islands,  under  fire  of  their  batteries, 
and  the  enemy,  about  six  thousand  strong,  retired  within 
their  lines.  On  the  appointed  day,  the  Americans  crossed 
from  the  main  to  Rhode  Island,  when  they  learned  that 
Lord  Howe  being  seen  in  the  offing,  D'Estaing  had  gone 
to  sea  in  hope  of  meeting  him.  A  tempest  dispersed  them. 
The  admiral's  ship  was  dismasted.  He  decided  to  repair 
to  Boston  in  obedience  to  his  instructions  to  proceed  there 
in  case  of  disaster. 

The  high  wrought  expectations  of  the  country  and  of 
the  army  from  the  co-operation  of  France,  were  now  a 
second  time  disappointed.  Greene  resolved,  in  concert 
with  La  Fayette,  to  induce  D'Estaing  to  sail  for  Rhode 
Island. .  His  fleet  appearing,  on  the  twentieth  off  New 
Port,  they  waited  upon  him  on  shipboard,  presenting  a  let- 
ter from  Sullivan,  remonstrating  against  his  withheld  aid. 


JET.  21.]  HAMILTON. 

D'Estaing  did  not  comply.  The  insubordination  of  his 
officers,  anxious  to  thwart  him  in  any  measures  that  would 
confer  upon  him  distinction,  was  now  seen.  They  advised 
him  to  repair  to  Boston.  He  surrendered  his  own  wishes 
to  their  unanimous  importunity.  Sullivan  wrote  him 
again,  sending  an  offensive  protest,  signed  by  all  the  gen- 
eral officers  at  Rhode  Island,  except  La  Fayette.*  Irri- 
tated by  this  unwise  act,  he  sailed  to  Boston.  Sullivan, 
thus  disappointed,  on  the  twenty-eighth  of  August,  with- 
drew his  army,  reduced  by  desertion,  to  the  northern  part 
of  the  island,  waiting  the  future  co-operation  of  D'Estaing. 
The  British  pursued  him.  The  Americans  encamped,  pro- 
tected by  a  redoubt.  An  attempt  was  made  to  turn  their 
right  flank,  and  to  carry  the  redoubt.  Greene  met  and 
defeated  the  enemy,  who  retired  to  a  strong  position.  The 
action  was  not  resumed.  Advised  by  Greene  of  the  dis- 
contents which  had  arisen  with  the  French,  Washington, 
with  the  pen  of  Hamilton,  expressed  his  wish,  "the  utmost 
harmony  should  prevail,  as  it  is  essential  to  success,  and 
that  no  occasions  may  be  omitted  on  your  part  to  culti- 
vate it."  A  hope  was  intimated  of  a  "  complete  reduc- 
tion of  the  enemy's  force."  "If  the  fact  is  otherwise,  let 
me  beseech  you  to  guard  against  sorties  and  surprises. 
The  enemy,  depend  upon  it,  will  fall  like  a  strong  man, 
will  make  many  sallies,  and  endeavor  to  possess  them- 
selves of  or  destroy  your  artillery,  and  should  they  once 
put  the  militia  into  confusion,  the  consequences  may  be 
fatal."  A  letter  from  Washington,  written  by  Hamilton, 
the  day  before  the  recent  action,  advised  Sullivan  of  the 
appearance  of  a  movement  by  the  British  in  New  York, 
and  remarked :  "  I  will  just  add  a  hint,  which,  made  use 
of  in  time,  may  prove  important,  and  answer  a  very  salu- 
tary purpose.  Should  the  expedition  fail,  through  the 

*  Marshall,  L  265. 


492  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

abandonment  of  the  French  fleet,  the  officers  concerned 
will  be  apt  to  complain  loudly.  But  prudence  dictates 
that  we  should  put  the  best  face  upon  the  matter,  and  to 
the  world  attribute  the  removal  to  Boston  to  necessity. 
The  reasons  are  too  obvious  to  need  explaining.  The 
principal  one  is,  that  our  British  and  internal  enemies 
would  be  glad  to  improve  the  least  matter  of  complaint 
and  disgust  between  us  and  our  new  allies  into  a  serious 
rupture."  A  letter  to  the  same  effect  was  on  the  same 
day  addressed,  in  behalf  of  Washington,  by  Hamilton,  to 
General  Heath  at  Boston.  "  It  is  our  duty,"  he  observed, 
"  to  make  the  best  of  our  misfortunes,  and  not  to  suffer 
passion  to  interfere  with  our  interest  and  the  public  good." 
The  intelligence  of  the  movement  of  the  enemy  did  not 
come  too  soon.  Sullivan  obeyed  the  advice,  and  retired 
from  Rhode  Island  with  his  whole  force,  and  the  next  day, 
Sir  Henry  Clinton  with  a  reinforcement  of  four  thousand 
men  arrived.  Thus  the  American  army  was  saved. 
;  Qn  the  same  day,  Hamilton  wrote  in  behalf  of  the 
commander-in-chief  to  Governor  Clinton  :  "  I  am  sorry  to 
inform  you  that  the  French  fleet  left  Rhode  Island  bound 
to  Boston.  Our  troops  were  still  on  the  island,  and,  of 
course,  in  a  very  precarious  situation.  The  reasons  for 
this  conduct  were — the  damage  suffered  in  the  late  storm, 
the  apprehension  of  Byron's  being  on  the  coast,  and  the 
orders  of  the  French  king,  that  in  case  of  misfortune  or  a 
superior  naval  force,  the  fleet  was  immediately  to  repair 
to  Boston,  as  a  secure  post  and  a  place  of  rendezvous  for 
any  reinforcement  which  should  be  sent,;;  v 

^Different  opinions  will  be  entertained  on  the  pro- 
priety of  the  measure ;  but  we  ought  all  to  concur  in  giv- 
ing it  the  most  favorable  coloring  to  the  people.  It  should 
be  ascribed  to  necessity  resulting  from  the  injury  sus- 
tained by  the  storm." 


JET.  21.]  HAMILTON.  493 

The  cautionary  advice  to  Sullivan  came  too  late. 
Three  days  prior  to  its  date,  La  Fayette  wrote  to  Wash- 
ington explaining  the  conduct  of  his  relative  D'Estaing, 
and  stating  the  excitement  which  prevailed :  "  Could  you 
believe,  that  forgetting  any  national  obligation,  forgetting 
what  they  were  owing  to  that  same  fleet,  what  they  were 
yet  to  expect  from  them,  and  instead  of  resenting  their 
accidents  as  those  of  allies  and  brothers,  the  people  turned 
mad  at  their  departure  ;  and  wishing  them  all  the  evils  in 
the  world,  did  treat  them  as  a  generous  one  would  be 
ashamed  to  treat  the  most  inveterate  enemies. — I  am  more 
upon  a  warlike  footing  in  the  American  lines  than  when  I 
come  near  the  British  lines  at  New  Port."  He  referred 
to  a  recent  general  order  of  Sullivan  :  *  "  The  General 
yet  hopes  the  event  will  prove  America  able  to  procure 
that  by  her  own  arms,  which  her  allies  refuse  to  assist  her 
in  obtaining."  At  the  instance  of  La  Fayette  he  issued 
an  order  qualifying  this  ill-judged  paper. 

La  Fayette  also  wrote  a  private  letter  to  Hamilton  on 
the  subject  of  these  differences.  On  the  first  of  Septem- 
ber he  again  wrote  to  him  *  regretting  his  own  absence 
from  the  recent  engagement.  "  The  two  retreats  do  honor 
to  the  troops  and  to  General  Sullivan  who  conducted  them 
perfectly.  Communicate  to  me  in  a  long  letter,  my  dear 
Hamilton,  what  you  think  on  what  has  been  done,  what  is 
to  be  done,  and  what  can  be  done  en  suite.  The  unfortu- 
nate Toussard  lost  his  arm  in  one  of  the  most  Valorous  ac- 
tions ever  performed.  The  affairs  on  which  I  wrote  you 
my  complaints  are  a  little  quieted,  but  to  take  Rhode 
Island  we  want  General  Washington." 

On  the  same  day,  Hamilton  wrote  again  in  behalf  of 
Washington  to  Sullivan  :  "  The  disagreement  between  the 
army  under  your  command  and  the  fleet,  has  given  me 

*  Memoirs  of  La  Fayette,  i  191.  f  Hamilton's  Works,  i.  68. 


4.94  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

very  singular  uneasiness.  The  continent  at  large  is  con 
cerned  in  our  cordiality,  and  it  should  be  kept  up  by  all 
possible  means,  consistent  with  our  honor  and  policy. 
First  impressions,  you  know,  are  generally  longest  re- 
membered, and  will  serve  to  fix  in  a  great  degree  our 
national  character  among  the  French.  In  our  conduct 
towards  them  we  should  remember,  that  they  are  a  people 
old  in  war,  very  strict  in  military  etiquette,  and  apt  to 
take  fire  where  others  scarcely  seem  warmed.  Permit 
me  to  recommend,  in  the  most  particular  manner,  the 
cultivation  of  harmony  and  good  agreement,  and  your 
endeavors  to  destroy  that  ill  humor  which  may  have  got 
into  the  officers.  It  is  of  the  greatest  importance,  also, 
that  the  soldiers  and  the  people  should  know  nothing  of 
the  misunderstanding,  or,  if  it  has  reached  them,  that 
ways  may  be  used  to  stop  its  progress  and  prevent  its 
effects."  Greene  was  at  the  same  time  urged,  "  to  con- 
ciliate that  animosity,  which  I  plainly  perceive,  by  a  letter 
from  the  marquis,  subsists  between  the  American  officers 
and  the  French  in  our  service.  This,  you  may  depend, 
will  extend  itself  to  the  Count,  and  to  the  officers  and  men 
of  his  whole  fleet,  should  they  return  to  Rhode  Island ; 
unless,  upon  their  arrival  there,  they  find  a  reconciliation 
has  taken  place.  The  marquis  speaks  kindly  of  a  letter 
from  you  to  him  on  the  subject.  He  will  therefore  take 
any  advice  coming  from  you  in  a  friendly  light ;  and,  if 
he  can  be  pacified,  the  other  French  gentlemen  will  of 
course  be  satisfied,  as  they  look  up  to  him  as  their  head." 

A  most  conciliatory  letter  was  also  on  the  same  day 
addressed  by  Hamilton  to  La  Fayette,  urging  his  good 
offices  in  calming  the  rising  storm. 

His  view  of  the  conduct  of  Sullivan  is  disclosed  in  a 
private  letter  to  Boudinot  written  likewise  the  same  day, 
giving  expression  to  his  own  sense  of  what  was  due  to  a 


^Ex.  21.]  HAMILTON.  495 

gallant  ally  :  "  You  know  the  feuds  and  discontents  which 
have  attended  the  departure  of  the  French  fleet  from 
Rhode  Island. 

"You  are  probably  not  uninformed  of  the  impru- 
dence of  General  Sullivan  on  the  occasion,  particularly  in 
the  orders  he  issued  charging  our  allies  with  refusing  to 
assist  us.  This  procedure  was  the  summit  of  folly,  and 
has  made  a  very  deep  impression  upon  the  minds  of  the 
Frenchmen  in  general,  who  naturally  consider  it  as  an 
unjust  and  ungenerous  reflection  on  their  nation. 

"  The  stigmatizing  an  ally  in  public  orders,  and  one 
with  whom  we  meant  to  continue  in  amity,  was  certainly 
a  piece  of  absurdity  without  parallel.  The  Frenchmen 
expect  the  State  will  reprobate  the  conduct  of  tueir  gen- 
eral, and  by  that  means  make  atonement  for  the  stain  he 
has  attempted  to  bring  upon  French  honor.  Something 
of  this  kind  seems  necessary,  and  will  in  all  likelihood  be 
expected  by  the  court  of  France,  but  the  manner  of  doing 
it  suggests  a  question  of  great  delicacy  and  difficulty, 
which  I  find  myself  unable  to  solve. 

"  The  temper  with  which  General  Sullivan  was  actu- 
ated was  too  analogous  to  that  which  appeared  in  the 
generality  of  those  concerned  with  him  in  the  expedition, 
and  to  the  sentiments  prevailing  among  the  people. 
Though  men  of  discretion  will  feel  the  impropriety  of 
his  conduct,  yet  there  are  too  many  who  will  be  ready  to 
make  a  common  cause  with  him  against  any  attempt  of 
the  public  authority  to  convince  him  of  his  presumption, 
unless  the  business  is  managed  with  great  address  and  cir- 
cumspection. The  credit  universally  given  him  for  a 
happy  and  well  conducted  retreat,  will  strengthen  the 
sentiments  in  his  favor,  and  give  an  air  of  cruelty  to  any 
species  of  disgrace  which  might  be  thrown  upon  a  man, 
who  will  be  thought  rather  to  deserve  the  esteem  and  ap- 


496  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

plause  of  his  country.  To  know  how  to  strike  the  proper 
string  will  require  more  skill  than  I  am  master  of;  but 
I  would  offer  this  general  hint,  that  there  should  be  a 
proper  mixture  of  the  sweet  and  bitter  in  the  potion  which 
may  be  administered. 

"  I  am  sure  it  will  giye  you  pleasure  to  have  heard, 
ihat  our  friend  Greene  did  ample  justice  to  himself  on  this 
expedition  ;  and  that  Laurens  was  as  conspicuous  as  usual. 
But  while  we  celebrate  our  friends  and  countrymen,  we 
should  not  be  forgetful  of  those  meritorious  strangers, 
who  are  sharing  the  toils  and  dangers  of  America.  With- 
out derogating  from  the  merit  of  the  other  French  gentle- 
men who  distinguished  themselves,  Mr.  Toussard  may  be 
justly  allowed  a  pre-eminent  place.  In  the  enthusiasm  of 
heroic  valor,  he  attempted,  single  and  unseconded,  to  pos- 
sess himself  of  one  of  the  enemy's  field-pieces,  which  he 
saw  weakly  defended.  He  did  not  effect  it,  and  the  loss 
of  his  arm  was  the  price  of  his  bravery — his  horse  was 
shot  under  him  at  the  same  time  ;  but  we  should  not  the 
less  admire  the  boldness  of  the  exploit  from  a  failure  in 
the  success.  This  gentleman  has  now,  in  another  and 
more  signal  instance,  justified  the  good  opinion  I  have 
long  entertained  of  him,  and  merited  by  a  fresh  testimony 
of  his  zeal,  as  well  as  a  new  stroke  of  misfortune,  the  con- 
sideration of  Congress.  The  splendid  action  he  has  now 
performed,  and  for  which  he  has  paid  so  dear,  should  nei- 
ther be  concealed  from  the  public  eye,  nor  the  public 
patronage.  You  are  at  liberty  to  commit  this  part  of  my 
letter  to  the  press.  With  the  most  affectionate  attach- 
ment." 

Congress  passed  a  resolution  a  few  days  after,  thank- 
ing Sullivan  and  his  army  "  for  their  fortitude  and  bra- 
very in  the  action  of  the  twenty-ninth  of  August,  in  which 
they  repulsed  the  British  force,  and  maintained  the  field,'' 


JET.  21.]  HAMILTON.  497 

and  declared  "  their  high  sense  of  the  patriotic  exertions 
made  by  the  four  Eastern  Slates  in  the  late  expedition  to 
Rhode  Island."  A  motion  for  an  inquiry  into  the  causes 
of  its  failure  was  defeated  by  the  previous  question. 

Many  of  the  various  duties  of  service  performed  by 
Hamilton  have  been  shoAvn.  He  is  now  seen  in  a  new  aspect 
as  the  correspondent  in  behalf  of  the  commander-in-chicf, 
with  officers  high  in  the  confidence  of  the  new  ally  of  the 
United  States.  The  courteous  and  graceful  tone  of  his 
letters  was  very  grateful  to  men  of  rank  and  distinction, 
educated  in  the  most  polished  court  of  the  world,  and 
habituated  to  measure  the  intercourse  of  life,  not  less  by 
the  manner  than  by  the  substance.  It  will  be  seen,  that 
Hamilton  met  the  case  with  all  the  delicacy  and  tact  of 
a  refined  nature,  mingled  with  the  simple  frankness  of  a 
young  soldier.*  In  this  spirit  he  wrote  several  soothing 
letters  to  D'Estaing  in  the  name  of  Washington :  "  The 
importance  of  the  fleet  under  your  command  to  the  com- 
mon cause,  and  the  interest  I  take  in  your  personal  con- 
cerns, would  not  permit  me  but  to  be  deeply  affected  with 
the  information  of  the  disappointment  and  injuries  you 
sustained  in  the  late  unfortunate  storm.  I  flatter  myself, 
and  I  most  ardently  hope  my  countrymen  will  exert 
themselves,  to  give  you  every  aid  in  their  power,  that  you 
may,  as  soon  as  possible,  recover  from  the  damage  you 
have  suffered,  and  be  in  a  condition  to  renew  your  efforts 
against  the  common  enemy.." 

This  letter  bears  date,  the  second  of  September.  He 
again  wrote  to  him  for  the  commander-in-chief,  on  the 

.*  Dewitt's  Life  of  Washington,  i.  147  :  "  Himself,  so  full  of  simplicity  and 
reserve,  he  takes,  with  the  French,  a  tone  of  courtesy  almost  complimentary. 
He  offers  his  friendship  to  D'Estaing,  he  recalls  to  La  Fayette  the  old  intimacy 
which  unites  them,  and  cures,  by  kind  words,  the  wound  given  to  their  self- 
love,"  ascribing  these  letters  to  Washington 

VOL.  I.— 32 


498  THE   EEPUBLIC.  [1YT8. 

twenty-seventh  of  October:  "1  rejoice  with  you  in  the 
prospect  of  your  being  so  soon  in  a  state  to  resume  the 
sea.  I  cannot  but  ardently  desire,  that  an  opportunity 
may  be  soon  afforded  you  of  again  exerting  that  spirit  oi 
well  directed  activity  and  enterprise,  of  which  you  have 
already  given  proof  so  formidable  to  our  enemies,  and  so 
beneficial  to  the  common  cause.  It  is  to  be  hoped  our 
next  accounts  from  Europe  will  manifest,  that  the  court 
of  Spain  has  properly  estimated  the  value  of  the  present 
moment,  and  has  united  her  power  to  that  of  France,  to 
give  a  decisive  blow  to  the  haughty  dominion  which  Brit- 
ain has  so  long  affected  to  maintain  over  the  sea.  The 
satisfaction  I  feel  in  looking  forward  to  this  event,  is  aug- 
mented by  the  illustrious  part  I  am  persuaded  you  will 
act  in  accomplishing  it." 

D'Estaing  appreciated  the  tone  of  this  letter.  Stating 
that  Mr.  Holker  would  make  an  interesting  communica- 
tion in  his  name,  he  wrote  to  Washington  :  "  I  entreat  you 
not  to  confide  the  secret  to  any  person,  except  Colonel 
Hamilton.  His  talents  and  his  personal  qualities  have 
secured  to  him  for  ever  my  esteem,  my  confidence,  my 
friendshp."  In  reply  to  this  and  another  letter,  Hamilton, 
in  the  name  of  Washington,  remarked :  "  Your  excellen- 
cy's sentiments  give  value  to  my  own  on  the  utility  of 
some  well-combined  system  of  fortification  for  the  secu- 
rity of  our  principal  seaport  towns. 

"  The  predatory  war  which  the  enemy  threaten,  and 
have  actually  carried  on  in  several  instances,  and  which 
they  have  the  opportunity  to  repeat,  give  additional  force 
to  the  other  reasons  for  a  measure  of  that  nature.  I  im- 
patiently expect  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Holker  to  confer  with 
me  on  the  important  objects  with  which  he  will  be 
charged.  I  shall  cautiously  observe  the  secrecy  you  de- 
sire. Colonel  Hamilton's  high  respect  for  your  excellency 


<Ei.  21.J  HAMILTON.  499 

cannot  permit  him  to  be  insensible  to  so  flattering  a  mark 
of  your  confidence  and  friendship,  as  the  exception  in  his 
favor  affords." 

These  soft  words  soothed  the  justly  wounded  spirit  of 
the  French  admiral,  and  time  sufficient  elapsing  for  the 
mind  of  New  England  to  calm,  Congress  declared,  the 
Count  "  hath  behaved  as  a  brave  and  wise  officer,  and  his 
excellency  and  the  officers  and  men  under  his  command, 
have  rendered  every  benefit  to  these  States,  which  the 
circumstances  and  nature  of  the  service  would  admit  of, 
and  are  fully  entitled  to  the  regard  of  the  friends  of 
America."  These  with  other  encomiastic  expressions 
were  ordered  to  be  transmitted  to  him. 

The  arrival  of  a  British  naval  reinforcement  indicated 
the  necessity  of  measures  for  the  protection  of  the  French 
squadron  lying  at  Boston.  With  this  view  a  large  detach- 
ment was  ordered  into  Connecticut  to  be  within  support- 
ing distance  of  the  troops  at  Boston  and  those  upon  the 
Hudson,  whichever  should  be  the  object  of  the  enemy. 
Washington  having  encamped  at  White  Plains,  the  works 
in  the  Highlands  and  the  adjacent  posts  and  detachments 
came  under  his  immediate  supervision.  Delicacy  to  Gates, 
and  expedience,  both  prompted  his  being  placed  in  a  sep- 
arate command.  Hamilton,  over  the  signature  of  Wash- 
ington, addressed  him  an  order  giving  him  charge  of  this 
detachment.  He  was  subsequently  ordered  by  Congress 
to  Boston. 

A  letter  of  General  McDougall  to  Governor  Clinton 
thus  depicts  Gates :  "  I  understand  he  is  gone  to  Boston. 
I  know  he  was  exceedingly  impatient  under  command, 
and  from  his  known  temper,  I  suspect  he  prefers  being 
the  first  man  of  a  village  to  the  second  in  Rome.  He  has 
little  to  do  there,  but  the  service  will  not  suffer  by  his  be- 
ing at  a  post  of  ease  and  security.  He  is  the  most  credu- 


500  THE   REPUBLIC.  (me 

lous  in  his  profession  of  any  man  I  ever  knew,  who  had 
seen  so  much  service.  He  has  the  weakest  mind  to  com- 
bine circumstances  to  form  a  judgment,  of  any  man  I 
ever  knew  of  his  plausible  and  specious  appearance.  In 
short,  he  is  as  weak  as  water.  The  Lord  of  Hosts  have 
mercy  on  that  army,  whose  movements  must  depend  on 
his  combination  of  the  military  demonstrations  of  an  ene- 
my. God  avert  so  great  a  judgment  to  America,  as  his 
having  the  chief  command  of  her  armies.  It  is  fortunate 
for  America,  Burgoyne  was  so  rash  as  to  put  himself  in 
the  position  he  did  ;  and  that  there  was  no  other  route  for 
him  to  Albany  than  the  one  he  took,  or  he  would  not  have 
been  an  American  prisoner."  Yet  the  correspondent  of 
Gates  in  Congress  was  indulging  in  sarcasms  upon  Wash- 
ington:  "In  the  name  of  America,"  Lovell  writes  him, 
"  what  plan  is  to  be  pursued  ?  Is  Lord  Howe  at  liberty 
to  come  and  go  as  he  pleases  ?  Is  not  his  fleet  essential  to 
the  safety  of  Clinton  ?  May  he  cover  New  York  and 
Rhode  Island  alternately  as  he  pleases  ? "  Again  he 
wrote  him  before  his  departure  for  Boston  :  "  But  here  let 
me  ask  you  whether  any  chief  ever  had  so  little  true  intel- 
ligence as  General  Washington  ?  Are  not  spies  to  be  had 
for  money  ?  We  shall  do  great  things  when  we  get  Pres- 
ident Schuyler  here.  I  think  that  is  one  of  the  next 
tneasures.  I  am  not  altogether  without  suspicion  that 
•some  mean  practices  may  take  place  in  your  present 
quarters." 

The  cautionary  measures  against  a  surprise  by  the 
enemy  being  taken,  Washington's  attention  was  now 
turned  to  the  possibility  of  a  new  effort  for  the  liberation 
of  Canada,  which  had  been  suggested  by  La  Fayette,  and 
contemplated  the  co-operation  of  a  body  of  French  troops 
to  proceed  against  Quebec.  Having  submitted  to  a  board 
of  general  officers  a  series  of  questions  as  to  the  force 


^fir.  21.]  HAMILTON.  501 

. 
there,  and  the  dispositions  of  the   inhabitants  "  to  unite 

with  the  Independent  States  of  America,"  their  report 
was  communicated  to  Congress  in  a  letter  from  the  pen 
of  Hamilton. 

"  The  expediency  of  the  undertaking,"  it  is  observed, 
"  in  a  military  point  of  view,  will  depend  on  the  enemy's 
evacuating  these  States,  and  on  the  reinforcements  they 
may.  send  into  Canada.  While  they  keep  their  present 
footing,  we  shall  find  employment  enough  in  defending 
ourselves  without  meditating  conquests ;  or,  if  they  send 
a  large  addition  of  strength  into  that  country,  it  may  re- 
quire greater  force  and  more  abundant  supplies  on  our 
part,  to  effect  its  reduction,  than  our  resources  may  admit. 
But,  if  they  should  leave  us,  and  their  other  exigencies 
should  oblige  them  to  neglect  Canada,  an  event  which  is 
not  impossible,  we  may  derive  essential  advantages  from 
a  successful  expedition  there  ;  and  if  it  should  be  thought 
advisable,  there  is  no  time  to  be  lost  in  making  prepara- 
tions, particularly  if  the  idea  of  carrying  it  on  in  the 
winter  is  pursued. 

"  The  great  importance  of  the  object,  both  in  a  military 
and  political  light,  demands  the  sanction  and  concurrence 
of  Congress  before  any  steps  can  be  taken  towards  it 
with  propriety.  The  peculiar  preparations  which  will  be 
necessary  from  the  peculiar  nature  of  the  enterprise,  are 
an  additional  motive  with  me  for  requesting  thus  early 
their  determination." 

The  plan,  if  the  expedition  were  undertaken,  was, 
owing  to  the  large  naval  force  of  the  enemy  on  the  lakes, 
to  penetrate  by  way  of  the  frontier  of  Connecticut. 

Orders  were  given  to  provide  magazines  and  forage 
in  that  State,  in  the  contingency  of  the  proposed  invasion. 
If  it  were  abandoned,  they  would  be  convenient,  from  re- 
cent indications  of  the  enemy,  to  transfer  their  operations 


502  THE   REPUBLIC.  [17Ta 

to  New  England.  Should  such  be  their  policy,  the  safety 
of  Boston  would  be  a  primary  object.  With  this  view, 
General  Du  Portail,  the  chief  engineer  of  the  army,  was 
ordered  there.  A  letter  from  Hamilton  to  Heath,  in  the 
name  of  Washington,  stated  his  object  would  be  "  to  ex- 
amine into  the  nature  and  condition  of  the  fortifications 
erected  or  being  erected  on  the  land  side,  and  to  form  a 
plan  for  a  more  complete  system  so  far  as  may  be  neces- 
sary, or  circumstances  will  permit.  This  is  to  be  com- 
bined on  the  principle  of  a  co-operation  with  the  French 
fleet  for  mutual  defence." 

The  enemy's  force  was  in  two  principal  divisions  ;  that 
in  New  York  and  its  dependencies  numbered  thirteen 
thousand,  the  other  in  Rhode  Island  consisted  of  about 
five  thousand.  Intelligence  being  received  of  prepara- 
tions for  a  considerable  embarkation  of  troops,  a  council 
of  war  was  convened,  and  the  questions  submitted  in  a 
paper  prepared  by  Hamilton  :  "  Whether  the  army  should 
be  held  in  a  collected  state  during  the  winter  and  where  ? 
and  whether  it  shall  be  distributed  into  cantonments,  and 
in  what  particular  manner?  What  precautions  should 
be  adopted,  in  either  case,  to  shelter  the  troops  and  pro- 
cure subsistence  both  of  provisions  and  forage  ? " 

The  American  force  in  New  York  and  the  Jerseys  was 
about  fifteen  thousand,  in  Providence  and  its  dependencies 
about  thirty-five  hundred  Continentals  and  State  troops. 

In  respect  to  the  proposed  expedition  to  Canada,  the 
disposition  of  the  troops  and  the  selection  of  winter  quar- 
ters, the  policy  of  the  enemy  was  the  controlling  consid- 
eration. Frequent  letters  were  addressed  by  Hamilton  to 
D'Estaing  communicating  intelligence,  but  it  was  exceed- 
ingly difficult  to  form  an  opinion. 

Hamilton  gives  his  own  view  in  a  private  letter :  *  "It 

*  Hamilton's  Works,  i.  70. 


^ET.  21.]  HAMILTON.  503 

is  a  question  very  undecided  in  my  mind  whether  the  ene- 
my will  evacuate  or  not.  Reasoning  a  priori,  the  argu- 
ments seem  to  be  strongest  for  it  from  the  exhausted  state 
of  the  British  resources,  the  naked  condition  of  their  do- 
minions every  where,  and  the  possibility  of  a  Spanish  war. 
But  on  the  other  hand,  naval  superiority  must  do  a  great 
deal  in  the  business.  This,  I  think,  considering  all  things, 
appears  clearly  enough  to  be  on  the  side  of  Britain.  The 
sluggishness  of  Spain  affords  room  to  loubt  her  taking  a 
decisive  part.  The  preserving  posts  in  these  States  will 
greatly  distress  our  trade,  and  give  security  to  the  British 
West  India  trade.  They  will  also  cover  the  West  Indies, 
and  restrain  any  operations  of  ours  against  the  British 
dominions  on  this  continent.  These  considerations  and  the 
depreciated  state  of  our  currency,  will  be  strong  induce- 
ments to  keep  New  York  and  Rhode  Island,  if  not  with  a 
view  to  conquest,  with  a  view  to  temporary  advantages, 
and  making  better  terms  in  a  future  negotiation. 

"From  appearances,  the  great  delay  which  attends  the 
embarkation,  the  absolute  tranquillity  of  the  post  at  Rhode 
Island,  where  there  is  no  kind  of  preparation  for  leaving 
it,  and  some  other  circumstances,  seem  to  indicate  an  in- 
tention to  remain.  On  the  other  hand,  besides  the  general 
appearances  I  have  already  mentioned,  their  inattention  to 
the  petition  of  the  refugees  and  the  not  raising  new  works, 
are  strong  additional  reasons  for  going  away.  I  think  it 
most  probable,  if  they  were  determined  to  continue  a 
garrison,  that  they  would  give  most  explicit  assurances  to 
their  friends,  in  order  to  encourage  their  proposal,  and 
engage  them  to  aid  in  maintaining  it.  I  think  also  they 
would  contract  their  works,  to  be  better  proportioned  to 
the  number  of  the  garrison,  and  of  course  more  defensi- 
ble, by  throwing  a  chain  of  fortifications  across  the  nar- 
row part  of  the  Island.  The  depreciation  of  our  curren- 


504  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778 

cy  casts  a  gloom  on  our  prospects,  but  my  sentiments  on 
this  subject  are  rather  peculiar.  I  think,  bad  as  it  is,  it 
will  continue  to  draw  out  the  resources  of  the  country  a 
good  while  longer,  and  especially  if  the  enemy  make  such 
detachments,  of  which  there  is  hardly  a  doubt,  as  will 
oblige  us  to  act  on  the  defensive. 

This  will  make  our  public  expenditures  infinitely  less, 
and  will  allow  the  States  leisure  to  attend  to  the  arrange- 
ments of  their  finances,  as  well  as  the  country  tranquillity 
to  cultivate  its  resources." 

In  the  fleet  commanded  by  D'Estaing,  came  the  Sieur 
Gerard  de  Rayneval,  Syndic  of  Strasbjrg  and  secretary 
of  the  council  of  state,  accredited  as  minister  plenipoten- 
tiary from  the  king  of  France.  To  increase  the  effect  of 
this  acknowledgment  of  the  sovereignty  of  the  United 
States,  a  public  audience  was  appointed  by  Congress  on 
the  sixth  of  August. 

Richard  Henry  Lee  and  Samuel  Adams  were  selected 
to  present  him.  They  approached  in  a  coach  drawn  by 
six  horses  caparisoned  for  the  great  occasion.  Gerard 
gave  assurances  of  the  friendship  of  the  king  and  of  his 
"  desire  to  establish  the  repose  and  prosperity  of  the  United 
States  upon  an  honorable  and  solid  foundation."  These 
assurances  were  reciprocated  in  warm  and  becoming 
terms  ;  and  on  the  fourteenth  of  September,  Franklin  was 
elected  minister  to  France. 

The  instructions  to  govern  him  in  his  mission  became 
a  subject  of  long  and  earnest  consideration.  They  were 
not  completed  until  late  in  October,  and  embraced  a  de- 
tailed plan  for  the  conquest  of  Canada.  This  plan  con- 
templated a  movement  upon  Detroit  by  way  of  Pittsburg, 
an  attack  upon  Fort  Niagara  by  way  of  Wyoming  and 
by  the  Mohawk,  the  occupation  of  Oswego  and  the  as- 
sembling of  five  thousand  men  in  Connecticut,  to  pene- 


^ET.  21.]  HAMILTON.  505 

trate  by  way  of  the  river  St.  Francis.  These  operations 
were  to  be  effected  by  the  American  troops.  At  the  same 
time,  a  body  of  French  soldiers  were  to  enter  the  St. 
Laurence  and  capture  Quebec,  which,  it  was  supposed, 
they  would  find  "  defenceless." 

A  copy  of  this  plan  was  submitted  by  Congress  to 
Washington  in  order  to  obtain  his  views,  and  he  was  di- 
rected to  get  exact  intelligence  of  the  military  and  naval 
strength  in  that  province. 

The  preparation  of  an  opinion  on  this  very  important 
project  was  confided  to  Hamilton.  A  full  examination  of 
the  subject  in  its  military  aspects  was  communicated  to 
Congress  in  a  letter  written  by  him,  in  the  name  of  Wash- 
ington : 

This  official  letter  was  enclosed  in  a  private  letter  to 
the  President  of  Congress,  also  from  his  pen,  bearing  date 
the  fourteenth  of  November. 

"  This  will  be  accompanied  by  an  official  letter  on  the 
subject  of  the  proposed  expedition  against  Canada.  You 
will  perceive  I  have  only  considered  it  in  a  military  light, 
indeed  I  was  not  authorized  to  consider  it  in  any  other ; 
and  I  am  not  without  apprehensions  that  I  may  be  thought, 
in  what  I  have  done,  to  have  exceeded  the  limits  intended 
by  Congress.  But  my  solicitude  for  the  public  welfare, 
which  I  think  deeply  interested  in  this  affair,  will,  I  hope, 
justify  me  in  the  eyes  of  all  those  who  view  things  through 
that  just  medium. 

"  I  do  not  know,  sir,  what  may  be  your  sentiments  in 
the  present  case,  but  whatever  they  are,  I  am  sure  I  can 
confide  in  your  honor  and  friendship,  and  shall  not  hesi- 
tate to  unbosom  myself  to  you  on  a  point  of  the  most 
delicate  and  important  nature.  The  question  of  the 
Canadian  expedition  in  the  form  it  now  stands,  appears  to 
me  one  of  the  most  interesting  that  has  hitherto  agitated 


506  THE   EEPUBLIC.  [1778 

our  national  deliberations.  I  have  one  objection  to  it,  un- 
touched in  my  public  letter,  which  is,  in  my  estimation, 
insurmountable,  and  alarms  all  my  feelings  for  the  true 
and  permanent  interests  of  my  country.  This  is  the  in- 
troduction of  large  bodies  of  French  troops  into  Canada, 
and  putting  them  in  possession  of  the  capital  of  that  pro- 
vince, attached  to  them  by  all  the  ties  of  blood,  habits, 
manners,  religion,  and  former  connection  of  government. 

"  I  fear  this  would  be  too  great  a  temptation  to  be  re- 
sisted by  any  power  actuated  by  the  common  maxims  of 
national  policy.  Let  us  realize  for  a  moment  the  striking 
advantages  France  would  derive  from  the  possession  of 
Canada ;  the  acquisition  of  an  extensive  territory  abound- 
ing in  supplies  for  the  use  of  her  islands  ;  the  opening  a 
vast  source  of  the  most  beneficial  commerce  with  the  In- 
dian nations,  which  she  might  then  monopolize  ;  the  hav- 
ing ports  of  her  own  on  this  continent  independent  of  the 
precarious  good  will  of  an  ally  ;  the  engrossing  the  whole 
trade  of  Newfoundland  whenever  she  pleased,  the  finest 
nursery  of  seamen  in  the  world  ;  the  security  afforded  to 
her  islands ;  and  finally  the  facility  of  awing  and  control- 
ling these  States,  the  natural  and  most  formidable  rival  of 
every  maritime  power  in  Europe.  Canada  would  be  a 
solid  acquisition  to  France  on  all  these  accounts,  and  be- 
cause of  the  numerous  inhabitants,  subjects  to  her  by  in- 
clination, who  would  aid  in  preserving  it  under  her  power 
against  the  attempt  of  every  other. 

"France,  acknowledged  for  some  time  past  the  most 
powerful  monarchy  in  Europe  by  land,  able  now  to  dis- 
pute the  empire  of  the  sea  with  Great  Britain,  and  if 
joined  with  Spain,  I  may  say  certainly  superior,  possessed 
of  New  Orleans  on  our  right,  and  Canada  on  our  left, 
and  seconded  by  the  numerous  tribes  of  Indians  in  our 
rear  from  one  extremity  to  the  other,  a  people  so  generally 


J^T.  21.]  HAMILTON.  507 

friendly  to  her,  and  whom  she  knows  so  well  to  conciliate, 
would,  it  is  much  to  be  apprehended,  have  it  in  her  power 
to  give  law  to  these  States. 

"Let  us  suppose  that  when  the  five  thousand  French 
troops  (and  under  the  idea  of  that  number  twice  as  many 
might  be  introduced),  were  entered  the  City  of  Quebec, 
they  should  declare  an  intention  to  hold  Canada,  as  a 
pledge  and  security  for  the  debts  due  to  France  from  the 
United  States,  or,  under  other  specious  pretences,  hold  the 
place,  till  they  can  find  a  bone  for  contention,  and,  in  the 
meanwhile,  should  excite  the  Canadians  to  engage  in  sup- 
porting their  pretensions  and  claims  ;  what  should  we  be 
able  to  say  with  only  four  or  five  thousand  men  to  carry 
on  the  dispute  ?  It  may  be  supposed,  that  France  would 
not  choose  to  renounce  our  friendship  by  a  step  of  this 
kind,  as  the  consequence  would  probably  be  a  reunion 
with  England  on  some  terms  or  other,  and  the  loss  of 
what  she  had  acquired  in  so  violent  and  unjustifiable  a 
manner,  with  all  the  advantages  of  an  alliance  with  us. 
This,  in  my  opinion,  is  too  slender  a  security  against  the 
measure  to  be  relied  on.  The  truth  of  the  position  will 
entirely  depend  on  naval  events.  If  France  and  Spain 
should  unite,  and  obtain  a  decided  superiority  by  sea,  a 
reunion  with  England  would  avail  very  little,  and  might 
be  set  at  defiance.  France,  with  a  numerous  army  at 
command,  might  throw  in  what  number  of  land  forces 
she  thought  proper,  to  support  her  pretensions ;  and  Eng- 
land, without  men,  without  money,  and  inferior  in  her  fa- 
vorite element,  could  give  no  effectual  aid  to  oppose  them. 
Resentment,  reproaches,  and  submission  seem  to  be  all  that 
would  be  left  us.  Men  are  very  apt  to  run  into  extremes. 
Hatred  to  England  may  carry  some  into  excess  of  confi- 
dence in  France,  especially  when  motives  of  gratitude  are 
thrown  into  the  scale.  Men  of  this  description  would  be 


508  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

unwilling  to  suppose  France  capable  of  acting  so  ungen- 
erous a  part.  I  am  heartily  disposed  to  entertain  the  most 
favorable  sentiments  of  our  new  ally,  and  to  cherish  them 
in  others  to  a  reasonable  degree.  But  it  is  a  maxirn 
founded  on  the  universal  experience  of  mankind,  that  no 
nation  is  to  be  trusted  farther  than  it  is  bound  by  its  inter 
ests  ;  and  no  prudent  statesman  or  politician  will  ventur 
to  depart  from  it.  In  our  circumstances  we  ought  to  be 
particularly  cautious ;  for  we  have  not  yet  attained  suffi- 
cient vigor  and  maturity  to  recover  from  the  shock  oi 
any  false  step  into  which  we  may  unwarily  fall. 

"  If  France  should  even  engage  in  the  scheme,  in  the 
first  instance,  with  the  purest  intentions,  there  is  the 
greatest  danger  that,  in  the  progress  of  the  business,  in- 
vited to  it  by  circumstances,  and,  perhaps,  urged  on  by 
the  solicitations  and  wishes  of  the  Canadians,  she  would 
alter  her  views. 

"  As  the  marquis  clothed  his  proposition  when  he  spoke 
of  it  to  me,  it  would  seem  to  have  originated  wholly  with 
himself;  but  it  is  far  from  impossible  that  it  had  its  birth 
in  the  cabinet  of  France,  and  was  put  into  this  artful 
dress  to  give  it  the  readier  currency.  I  fancy  that  I  read 
in  the  countenances  of  some  people  on  this  occasion,  more 
than  the  disinterested  zeal  of  allies.  I  hope  I  am  mistaken, 
and  that  my  fears  of  mischief  make  me  refine  too  much, 
and  awaken  jealousies  that  have  no  sufficient  foundation. 

"  But,  upon  the  whole,  sir,  to  waive  every  other  con- 
sideration, I  do  not  like  to  add  to  the  number  of  our  na- 
tional obligations.  I  would  wish  as  much  as  possible  to 
avoid  giving  a  foreign  power  new  claims  of  merit  for  ser- 
vices performed  to  the  United  States,  and  would  ask  no 
assistance  that  is  not  indispensable. 

"  I  am,  with  the  truest  attachment  and  the  most  perfect 
confidence,  <fec." 


yEx.  21.]  II  A  M I L  T  O  X .  509 

Two  days*  after  the  date  of  this  letter,  Hamilton,  over 
the  signature  of  Washington,  wrote  to  the  President  of 
Congress  in  consequence  of  apprehensions  entertained  by 
New  Jersey  of  an  attack  upon  her  western  frontier : 
"  These  depredations  of  the  enemy  give  me  the  most 
serious  concern.  I  lament  that  we  have  not  yet  had  it  in 
our  power  to  give  them  an  effectual  check.  I  am  per- 
fectly convinced  that  the  only  certain  way  of  preventing 
Indian  ravages,  is  to  carry  the  war  vigorously  into  their 
own  country  ;  but  as  this  is  thought  impracticable  at  this 
season  of  the  year,  from  the  state  of  the  weather  and 
other  circumstances,  I  fear  we  must  content  ourselves  for 
the  present  with  some  defensive  precautions."  These 
were  taken. 

An  effort  was  now  made  for  the  exchange  of  the 
troops  captured  at  Saratoga. 

A  proposal  for  this  purpose  had  recently  been  received 
from  Sir  Henry  Clinton.  This  proposal  was  submitted 
by  Washington  to  Congress,  and  a  resolution  passed  the 
nineteenth  of  November,  directing  him  to  appoint  com- 
missioners to  treat  with  those  appointed  by  the  British 
commander-in-chief.  The  basis  of  the  exchange  was  to 
be,  first,  officers  of  equal  rank ;  next,  if  necessary,  an  equiv- 
alent of  inferior  for  superior  officers  ;  if  this  should  leave 
any  officers  unexchanged,  an  equivalent  of  privates  in 
exchange  for  such  officers — to  be  settled.  Hamilton  and 
Harrison  were  appointed  by  Washington,  and  on  the 
eleventh  of  December  they  met  Colonels  Hyde  and 
O'Hara  at  Perth  Amboy.  An  exchange  was  proposed 
by  the  latter  of  one-half  of  the  officers  for  an  equal 
number  of  officers,  and  for  the  residue,  privates  according 
to  a  proportion  to  be  arranged.  This  proposal  being  a 
departure  from  the  terms  authorized  by  Congress,  and 
*  Nov.  16. 


510  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1778. 

which  had  been  communicated  to  Sir  Henry  Clinton  as 
preliminary,  was  rejected.  The  negotiation  was  thus  at 
an  end.  To  satisfy  the  public  mind,  the  correspondence 
was  published.  The  same  day,  the  letter  from  Washing- 
ton in  relation  to  the  Canadian  expedition,  was  referred  to 
a  committee  of  Congress. 

Reluctant  to  abandon  the  project,  while  assenting  to 
the  force  of  the  dissuasive  reasons  presented  in  the  letter, 
they  nevertheless  reported  a  resolution  which  was  ap- 
proved, instructing  the  commander-in-chief  to  write  to  La 
Fayette  and  to  the  envoy  to  France  "  very  fully,  in  order 
that  eventual  measures  might  be  taken,  in  case  an  arma- 
ment should  be  sent  from  France  to  Quebec,  to  co-operate 
therewith  to  the  utmost  degree  the  finances  of  the  States 
would  admit."  Laurens,  the  President,  differed  from  the 
views  of  the  majority.  He  wrote  a  reply  to  the  recent 
letter  received  from  Washington,  expressing  an  entire 
concurrence  with  its  opinions,  and  deprecating  any  un- 
avoidable increase  of  the  obligations  to  be  incurred  to 
France.  "  Their  report,"  he  stated,  "  was  framed  agree- 
ably to  his  (La  Fayette's)  wishes,  but  the  House  very 
prudently  determined  to  consult  the  commander-in-chief 
previously  to  a  final  determination ;  and,  although  your 
excellency's  observations  are  committed,  I  am  much  mis- 
taken, if  every  member  in  Congress  is  not  decided  in  his 
opinion  in  favor  of  them." 

Washington  was  placed  in  the  delicate  position,  either 
of  contravening  the  wishes  of  Congress,  or  of  being  party 
to  a  measure  he  disapproved.  Hamilton  again  stated  his 
views  to  that  body  .  * 

"  The  earnest  desire  I  have  to  render  the  strictest  com- 
pliance in  every  instance  to  the  views  and  instructions  of 
Congress,  cannot  but  make  me  feel  the  greatest  uneasi- 
«  Dec.  13. 


MT.  21.]  HAMILTON.  511 

ness  when  I  find  myself  in  circumstances  of  hesitation  01 
doubt  with  respect  to  their  directions.  But  the  perfect 
confidence  I  have  in  the  justice  and  candor  of  that  honor- 
able body,  emboldens  me  to  communicate  without  reserve, 
the  difficulties  which  occur  in  the  execution  of  their  pres- 
ent order ;  and  the  indulgence  I  have  experienced  on 
every  former  occasion,  induces  me  to  imagine,  that  the 
liberty  I  now  take  will  not  meet  with  their  disapproba- 
tion. 

"  I  have  attentively  taken  up  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee of  the  fifth,  approved  by  Congress,  on  the  subject 
of  my  letter  of  the  eleventh  ultimo,  on  the  proposed  ex- 
pedition into  Canada.  I  have  considered  it  in  several 
lights,  and  sincerely  regret  that  I  should  feel  myself  under 
any  embarrassment  in  carrying  it  into  execution.  Still,  I 
remain  of  opinion,  from  a  general  review  of  things  and 
the  state  of  our  resources,  that  no  extensive  system  of 
co-operation  with  the  French,  for  the  complete  emanci- 
pation of  Canada,  can  be  positively  decided  on  for  the 
ensuing  year.  To  propose  a  plan  of  perfect  co-operation 
with  a  foreign  power,  without  a  moral  certainty  of  our 
supplies,  and  to  have  that  plan  actually  ratified  by  the 
court  of  Versailles,  might  be  attended,  in  case  of  failure 
in  the  conditionson  our  part,  with  very  fatal  effects.  If 
I  should  seem  unwilling  to  submit  the  plan  as  prepared  by 
Congress  with  my  observations,  it  is  because  I  find  my- 
self under  a  necessity,  in  order  to  give  our  minister  suffi- 
cient ground  on  which  to  found  an  application,  to  propose 
something  more  than  a  vague  and  indecisive  plan,  which, 
even  in  the  event  of  a  total  evacuation  of  these  States  by 
the  enemy,  might  be  rendered  impracticable  in  the  execu- 
tion by  a  variety  of  insurmountable  obstacles.  Or,  if  I 
retain  my  present  sentiments  and  act  consistently,  I  must 
point  out  the  difficulties  as  they  appear  to  me ;  which 


512  THE   EEPUBLIC.  [1778 

must  embarrass  his  negotiations,  and  may  disappoint  the 
views  of  Congress.  The  line  of  conduct  that  I  am  to 
observe  in  writing  to  our  minister  at  the  court  of  France, 
does  not  appear  sufficiently  delineated.  Were  I  to  under 
take  it,  I  would  be  much  afraid  of  erring  through  miscon- 
ception. In  this  dilemma  I  should  esteem  it  as  a  particu- 
lar favor  to  be  excused  from  writing  at  all  on  the  subject, 
especially  as  it  is  the  part  of  candor  in  me  to  acknowl- 
edge that  I  do  not  see  my  way  clear  enough  to  point  out 
such  a  plan  for  co-operation  as  I  conceive  to  be  consistent 
with  the  ideas  of  Congress,  and  that  will  be  sufficiently 
explanatory  with  respect  to  time  and  circumstances,  to 
give  efficacy  to  the  measure.  But  if  Congress  should  still 
think  it  necessary  for  me  to  proceed  in  the  business,  I 
must  request  their  more  definitive  and  explicit  instructions, 
and  that  they  will  permit  me,  previous  to  transmitting  the 
intended  despatches,  to  submit  them  to  their  determination. 
"  I  could  wish  to  lay  before  Congress  more  minutely 
the  state  of  the  army,  the  condition  of  our  supplies,  and 
the  requisites  necessary  for  carrying  into  execution  an 
undertaking  that  may  involve  the  most  serious  conse- 
quences. If  Congress  think  this  can  be  done  more  satis- 
factorily in  a  personal  conference,  I  hope  to  have  the 
army  in  such  a  situation  before  I  can  receive  their  answer, 
as  to  afford  me  an  opportunity  of  giving  my  attendance. 
I  would  only  add,  that  I  shall  cheerfully  comply  with  the 
directions  of  Congress  relative  to  making  every  prepara- 
tion in  our  power  for  an  expedition  against  Niagara,  and 
for  such  other  operations  to  the  northward  as  time  and 
circumstances  shall  enable  us  to  carry  on.  Measures  for 
the  purpose  have  been  taken  in  part  for  some  time  past ; 
and  I  shall  pursue  them  vigorously.  The  subject  has  long 
engaged  my  contemplation  ;  and  I  am  thoroughly  con- 
vinced of  the  expediency  and  policy  of  doing  every  thing 


MT:.  21.]  HAMILTON.  513 

practicable  on  our  part  for  giving  security  to  our  fron- 
tiers, by  the  reduction  of  those  places  which  facilitate  an- 
noying them,  and  even  for  accomplishing  the  annexation 
of  CANADA  to  the  UNION." 

Two  days  after,*  Hamilton  wrote  in  Washington's 
name  to  McDougall :  "  The  probable  prospects  of  the 
next  campaign  will  make  it  the  part  of  prudence  to  be 
turning  our  attention  towards  Canada,  and  to  be  preparing, 
as  far  as  our  circumstances  will  permit,  for  operations  in 
that  quarter,  either  partially  against  those  posts  which 
enable  the  enemy  to  distress  our  frontiers — Niagara,  &c., 
or  more  extensively  the  union  of  that  province  to  the  con- 
federacy, as  the  future  posture  of  our  affairs  may  put  it 
in  our  power  to  undertake.  Perhaps  the  more  partial 
plan  may  better  suit  with  our  resources.  The  reduction 
of  Niagara,  if  it  can  be  effected,  is  an  event  essential  to 
the  tranquillity  of  the  States.  This  cannot  be  accom- 
plished without  destroying  the  enemy's  naval  force  on 
Lake  Ontario,  the  means  of  doing  which  is  what  I  wish  at 
this  time  to  have  your  sentiments  concerning."  Questions 
were  then  propounded  as  to  building  an  American  naval 
force  to  be  launched  upon  that  lake. 

The  same  day  Hamilton,  in  Washington's  name,  wrote 
also  to  Schuyler,  congratulating  him  "  on  his  honorable 
acquittal  with  the  approbation  of  Congress,"  f  conferring 
with  him  again  as  to  the  Canada  expedition.  "  No  person, 
I  know,  has  it  more  in  his  power  to  judge  of  the  measures 
proper  to  be  taken,  and  I  am  persuaded  you  will  readily 

*  Dec.  18. 

f  "Dec.  3,  1778.  Resolved,  That  the  sentence  of  the  court  martial,  ac- 
quitting Major-general  Schuyler,  with  the  highest  honor,  of  the  charges  exhibited 
against  him,  be,  and  hereby  is,  confirmed."  Schuyler  had  been  elected  a  dele- 
gate to  Congress  early  this  year,  but  would  not  take  his  seat  while  this  matter 
was  pending,  preferring  the  inquiry  should  be  unbiased  and  have  full  scope. 

VOL.  I.— 33 


THE   REPUBLIC.  [1779. 

afford  your  aid  in  a  matter  of  so  great  importance,  as  far 
as  may  be  consistent  with  the  situation  of  your  public  and 
professional  concerns." 

The  next  day,  he  wrote  to  Steuben  in  Washington's 
name,  as  to  a  new  arrangement  of  the  office  of  inspector- 
general,  which  he  accompanied  with  a  private  letter  in  his 
own  name  :  "  I  am  sorry  that  your  business  does  not  seem 
to  make  so  speedy  a  progress  as  we  all  wish,  but  I  hope  it 
will  soon  come  to  a  satisfactory  termination.  I  wish  you 
to  be  in  a  situation  to  employ  yourself  usefully  and  agree- 
ably ;  and  to  contribute  to  giving  our  military  constitution 
that  order  and  perfection  which  it  essentially  wants." 
General  Lee,  in  his  defence,  had  borne  offensively  upon 
Steuben.  Hamilton  added  :  "  I  have  read  your  letter  to 
him  with  pleasure.  It  was  conceived  in  terms  which  the 
offence  merited  ;  and  if  he  had  had  any  feeling,  must  have 
been  felt  by  him.  Considering  the  pointedness  and  sever- 
ty  of  your  expressions,  his  answer  was  certainly  a  modest 
one,  and  proved  that  he  had  not  a  violent  appetite  for  so 
close  a  tete-a-tete  as  you  seemed  disposed  to  insist  upon. 
His  evasions,  if  known  to  the  world,  would  do  him  little 
honor.  I  don't  know  but  I  shall  be  shortly  at  Philadel- 
phia." 

Having  completed  the  arrangements  for  the  winter 
quarters  of  the  army,  Washington  proceeded  to  Philadel- 
phia at  the  request  of  Congress.  Hamilton  accompanied 
him,  and,  while  there,  addressed  them  a  letter  on  the  last 
day  of  the  year,  urging  the  retention  of  General  Dupor- 
tail  and  his  assistants  in  the  service.  On  the  first  of  Jan- 
uary, seventy-nine,  the  plan  for  the  invasion  of  Canada 
was  finally  acted  upon  by  Congress,  their  decision  not 
improbably  influenced  by  the  counsels  of  Jay,  recently 
elected  its  President,  who,  not  long  before,  had  conferred 
with  Washington,  and  entertained  similar  opinions. 


^ET.  22.]  HAMILTON.  515 

The  committee  of  conference  reported,  that  the  nego- 
tiation in  relation  to  it,  however  desirable  and  interesting 
it  was,  should  be  deferred  till  circumstances  should  render 
"  the  co-operation  of  these  States  more  certain,  practica- 
ble and  effectual." 

A  letter  was  consequently  addressed  to  La  Fayette, 
stating  their  determination,  "  however  flattering  the  object, 
not  to  risk  a  breach  of  the  public  faith  or  the  injury  of  an 
ally,  to  whom  they  are  bound  by  principles  of  honor, 
gratitude  and  affection." 

The  demoralization  of  the  public  councils  and  the  ne- 
cessity of  restoring  the  character  of  Congress  by  the  elec- 
tion of  a  superior  class  of  men,  had  become  more  and 
more  obvious. 

Washington,  in  a  private  letter  written  at  this  time  to 
his  intimate,  Harrison,  speaker  of  the  House  of  Delegates 
in  Virginia,  remarked  .  "  What  may  be  the  effect  of  such 
large  and  frequent  emissions,  of  the  dissensions,  parties, 
extravagance,  and  general  laxity  of  public  virtue,  Heaven 
alone  can  tell."  He  besought  his  exertions  to  send  "  the 
best  and  ablest  men  to  Congress." 

He  also  wrote  privately  to  Reed,  recently  elected 
"  President  of  the  executive  council  of  Pennsylvania : " 
"  It  gives  me  sincere  pleasure  to  find,  that  there  is  likely 
to  be  a  coalition  of  the  whigs  in  your  State,  a  few  only 
excepted,  and  that  the  assembly  is  so  well  disposed  to 
second  your  endeavors  in  bringing  those  murderers  of  our 
cause,  the  monopolizers,  forestallers  and  engrossers,  to  con- 
dign punishment.  It  is  much  to  be  lamented  that  each 
State,  long  ere  this,  has  not  hunted  them  down  as  pests  to 
society,  and  the  greatest  enemies  we  have  to  the  happiness 
of  America.  I  would  to  God,  that  some  one  of  the  most 
atrocious  in  each  State  was  hung  in  gibbets  upon  a  gal- 
lows five  times  as  high  as  the  one  prepared  by  Haman. 


THE   REPUBLIC.  [i779 

No  punishment,  in  my  opinion,  is  too  great  for  the  mail 
who  can  build  his  greatness  upon  his  country's  ruin."  * 
1*1  <  Hamilton  endeavored  to  check  some  of  these  abuses. 
A  plan  had  been  formed  in  Congress  for  relieving  the  dis- 
tresses of  the  army.  It  was  intended  to  be  secret.  A 
member  of  Congress,  one  of  the  cabal,  divulged  it  to  cer- 
tain friends,  who  were  charged  with  having  speculated 
with  him  in  flour.  The  intended  relief  to  the  army  was 
thus,  in  part,  defeated. 

Hamilton  being  informed  of  the  facts,  made  them  the 
subject  of  a  few  essays  over  the  signature  of  "  PUBLIUS." 
"  The  station  of  a  member  of  Congress,"  he  eloquently 
remarked  at  the  close,  "  is  the  most  illustrious  and  import- 
ant of  any  I  am  able  to  conceive.  He  is  to  be  regarded 
not  only  as  a  legislator,  but  as  a  founder  of  an  empire. 
A  man  of  virtue  and  ability,  dignified  with  such  a  trust, 
would  rejoice  that  fortune  had  given  him  birth  at  a  time, 
and  placed  him  in  circumstances,  so  favorable  for  promot- 
ing human  happiness.  He  would  esteem  it  not  more  the 
duty  than  the  privilege  and  ornament  of  his  office  to  do 
good  to  all  mankind.  From  this  commanding  eminence, 
he  would  look  down  with  contempt  upon  every  mean  or 
interested  pursuit. 

"  To  form  useful  alliances  abroad,  to  establish  a  wise 
government  at  home,  to  improve  the  internal  resources 
and  finances  of  the  nation,  would  be  the  generous  objects 
of  his  care.  He  would  not  allow  his  attention  to  be  di- 
verted from  these  to  intrigue  for  personal  connections  to 
confirm  his  own  influence,  nor  would  be  able  to  reconcile 
it,  either  to  the  delicacy  of  his  honor,  or  to  the  dignity  of 
his  pride,  to  confound  in  the  same  person  the  representa- 
tive of  the  commonwealth,  and  the  little  member  of  a 
trading  company.  Anxious  for  the  permanent  power  and 

*  Washington's  Writings,  vi    132. 


JEfi.  22.]  HAMILTON.  517 

prosperity  of  the  State,  he  would  labor  to  perpetuate  the 
union  and  harmony  of  the  several  parts.  He  would  not 
meanly  court  a  temporary  importance  by  patronizing  the 
narrow  views  of  local  interest,  or  by  encouraging  dissen- 
sions either  among  the  people  or  in  Congress.  In  council 
or  debate  he  would  discover  the  candor  of  a  statesman, 
zealous  for  truth ;  and  the  integrity  of  a  patriot,  studious 
of  the  public  welfare ;  not  the  cavilling  petulance  of  an 
attorney  contending  for  the  triumph  of  an  opinion,  nor 
the  perverse  duplicity  of  a  partisan  devoted  to  the  service 
of  a  cabal.  Despising  the  affectation  of  superior  wisdom, 
he  would  prove  the  extent  of  his  capacity  by  foreseeing 
evils,  and  contriving  expedients  to  prevent  or  remedy 
them.  He  would  not  expose  the  weak  sides  of  the  States, 
to  find  an  opportunity  of  displaying  his  own  discernment, 
by  magnifying  the  follies  and  mistakes  of  others.  In  his 
transactions  with  individuals,  whether  with  foreigners  or 
countrymen,  his  conduct  would  be  guided  by  the  sincerity 
of  a  man,  and  the  politeness  of  a  gentleman ;  not  by  the 
temporizing  flexibility  of  a  courtier,  nor  the  fawning  com- 
plaisance of  a  sycophant." 

This  appeal  was  not  without  effect.     The  State,  thus 
misrepresented  in  Congress,  passed  a  prudential  vote. 


i*  * 


J  V 
CHAPTER    XVIII. 

DURING  his  sojourn  at  Philadelphia,  conferences  were 
held  between  the  commander-in-chief  and  a  committee  of 
Congress.  A  paper  relating  to  the  recruiting  and  ar- 
rangements of  the  army,  and  the  operations  of  the  next 
campaign,  was  submitted  to  them  by  Washington.  The 
draft  of  it  is  in  Hamilton's  hand. 

"  The  first  and  great  object,"  it  stated,  "  is  to  recruit 
the  army  by  re-enlisting  the  men  now  in  it  to  serve 
during  the  war,"  for  which  purpose  no  bounty  was  to  be 
spared,  and  "  by  drafting  upon  some  such  plan  as  had 
been  recommended  "  at  Valley  Forge. 

"  The  next  object  is,  to  fix  some  ideas  respecting  the 
northern  preparations,  concerning  which  the  commander- 
in-chief  now  finds  himself  in  a  dilemma,  and  respecting 
the  operations  of  the  next  campaign  in  general,  in  order 
that  measures  may  be  taken  systematically.  The  follow- 
ing questions,  on  which  the  foregoing  will  depend,  ought 
to  be  considered  and  decided. 

"  First.  If  the  enemy  retain  their  present  force  at 
New  York  and  Rhode  Island,  can  we  assemble  a  sufficient 
force  and  means  to  expel  them  ? 

"  Second.  If  we  cannot,  can  we  make  a  successful 
attempt  against  Niagara,  and  retain  a  sufficient  force  at 


^ET.  22.]  HAMILTON. 

the  same  time  on  the  sea-board  to  keep  the  enemy  with- 
in bounds  ? 

"  Third.  Are  our  finances  equal  to  eventual  prepara- 
tions for  both  of  those  objects  ? 

"  If  the  first  is  determined  in  the  affirmative,  and  the 
enemy  keep  possession,  we  ought  to  direct  almost  our 
whole  force  and  exertions  to  that  point ;  and  for  the  se- 
curity of  our  frontiers,  endeavor  to  make  some  expedition 
against  Detroit  and  the  Indian  settlements,  by  way  of  di- 
version. Our  preparations  ought,  then,  to  be  adapted  to 
this  plan  ;  and  if  we  cannot  conveniently  unite  our  prepa- 
rations for  this  object  with  an  expedition  against  Niagara, 
we  ought  to  renounce  the  latter. 

"  If  the  first  question  is  answered  negatively,  and  the 
second  affirmatively,  and  if  it  is  judged  expedient  to  make 
such  an  attempt,  our  preparations  ought  to  have  reference 
principally  thereto,  and  we  must  content  ourselves  with  a 
merely  defensive  conduct  elsewhere,  and  should  study 
economy  as  much  as  possible.  It  is  in  vain  to  attempt 
things  which  are  more  the  objects  of  desire  than  attain- 
ment. Every  undertaking  ought  at  least  to  be  regulated 
by  the  state  of  our  finances,  the  prospect  of  our  supplies, 
and  the  probability  of  success..  Without  this,  disappoint- 
ment, disgrace,  and  an  increase  of  debt,  will  ensue  on  our 
part ;  exultation  and  renewed  hope  on  that  of  the  enemy. 
To  determine,  therefore,  what  we  can  undertake,  the 
state  of  the  army,  the  prospect  of  recruiting  it,  paying, 
clothing  and  feeding  it,  the  providing  the  necessary  appa- 
ratus for  offensive  operations  ;  all  these  matters  ought  to 
be  well  and  maturely  considered.  On  them  every  thing 
must  depend  ;  and  however  reluctantly  we  yield,  they 
will  compel  us  to  conform  to  them,  as  by  attempting  im- 
possibilities we  shall  ruin  our  affairs. 

"  If  the  third  question  is  answered  affirmatively,  which 


520  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1779 

it  is  much  to  be  feared  cannot  be  done,  then  eventual 
preparations  ought  to  be  made  for  both.  We  shall  then 
be  best  able  to  act  according  to  future  circumstances  ;  for 
though  it  will  be  impossible  to  unite  both  objects  in  the 
execution,  yet  in  the  event  of  the  enemy's  leaving  these 
States,  we  should  be  ready  to  strike  an  important  blow 
for  the  effectual  security  of  our  frontiers,  and  for  opening 
a  door  to  a  farther  progress  to  Canada. 

"  From  the  investigation  of  these  points  another  ques- 
tion may  possibly  result. 

"  Will  not  the  situation  of  our  affairs,  on  account  of 
the  depreciated  condition  of  our  currency,  deficiency  of 
bread,  scarcity  of  forage,  the  exhausted  state  of  our  re- 
sources in  the  middle  department,  and  the  general  distress 
of  the  inhabitants,  render  it  advisable  for  the  main  body 
of  the  army  to  lie  quiet  in  some  favorable  position  for 
confining,  as  much  as  possible,  the  enemy  to  their  present 
posts  (adopting,  at  the  same  time,  the  best  means  in  our 
power  to  scourge  the  Indians,  and  prevent  their  depreda- 
tions), in  order  to  save  expenses,  avoid  new  emissions,  re- 
cruit our  finances,  and  give  a  proper  tone  to  our  money 
for  more  vigorous  measures  hereafter  ? 

"  In  determining  a  plan  of  operations  for  next  cam- 
paign, much  will  depend  on  the  prospect  of  European 
affairs ;  what  we  have  to  expect  from  our  friends ;  what 
they  will  expect  from  us ;  and  what  the  enemy  will  prob- 
ably be  able  to  do.  These  points  should  be  well  weighed, 
and  every  information  concentred  to  throw  light  upon 
them.  But  upon  the  whole,  it  will  be  the  safest  and  most 
prudent  way  to  suppose  the  worst,  and  prepare  for  it. 

"It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say,  that  the  providing 
ample  supplies  of  arms,  clothes,  and  ordnance  stores,  is 
essential,  and  that  an  uncertain  dependence  may  not  only 
be  hurtful,  but  ruinous.  Their  importance  demands  that 


^Ei.  22.]  HAMILTON.  521 

every  possible  expedient  should  be,  without  delay,  adopt- 
ed, towards  obtaining  these  articles,  in  due  season  for  the 
purposes  of  next  campaign. 

"  Heavy  cannon,  for  posts  in  the  Highlands,  for  batter- 
ing, and  for  vessels,  if  offensive  measures  are  to  be  pur- 
sued, must  be  immediately  forwarded,  and  in  considerable 
quantity.  Large  mortars,  with  a  sufficient  apparatus,  will 
also  be  wanted. 

"  The  completing  the  arrangement  of  the  army,  with- 
out farther  delay,  is  a  matter  of  great  importance,  what- 
ever may  be  our  plan.  The  want  of  this  is  the  source  of 
infinite  dissatisfaction  to  the  officers  in  general,  and  con- 
tinual perplexity  to  the  commander-in-chief.  The  want 
of  brigadiers  is  a  material  inconvenience,  and  hath  been 
the  cause  of  much  relaxation  of  discipline,  discontent,  and 
loss,  in  several  instances." 

These  remarks  are  followed  by  observations,  indicating 
changes  in  the  ordnance  department,  as  suggested  by 
General  Kn6x ;  in  the  clothing,  and  in  the  hospital  de- 
partments. The  immediate  establishment  of  an  inspector- 
ship, on  a  definite  plan,  is  strongly  urged ;  and  an  im. 
proved  arrangement  of  the  engineering  department.  The 
communication  closes  with  a  reference  to  the  situation  of 
the  officers,  which  is  stated  "to  be  so  singularly  hard,  that 
the  bare  mention  of  their  case  is  sufficient  to  bring  it 
home  to  the  attention  and  feeling  of  every  man  of  reflec- 
tion, and  will  leave  no  doubt  of  the  necessity  of  applying 
a  remedy  the  most  speedy  and  effectual." 

The  views  taken  in  this  paper,  were  the  ground-work 
of  the  deliberations  of  the  committee  ;  and  the  plan  of  a 
defensive  campaign,  which  was  ultimately  adopted,  was 
enforced  by  various  considerations. 

The  enemy's  force  at  New  York  and  Rhode  Island, 
was  at  this  time  about  twelve  thousand  men.  From  the 


522  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1779. 

circular  position  of  their  posts,  the  strength  of  their  forti- 
fications, and  their  shipping,  it  was  believed,  that  to  a  sue 
cessful  attempt,  double  that  number  of  effectives  would 
be  necessary.  These,  both  from  the  rate  of  wages  and 
the  high  price  of  labor,  it  was  impossible  to  get,  beside 
the  extreme  difficulty  of  providing  subsistence  and  forage 
for  so  large  a  number. 

For  an  attack  upon  the  frontier  posts  of  the  interior,  a 
body  of  permanent  troops  with  auxiliaries,  to  the  amount 
of  more  than  twenty  thousand  men,  was  deemed  requi- 
site ;  for  whose  transportation  ships  were  to  be  built, 
boats  provided,  and  greater  expense  iucurred,  than  would 
be  necessary  for  an  attack  on  New  York. 

From  the  objections  to  these  plans  an  expedition 
against  the  Indians  was  free,  and  attended  with  much  less 
expense,  while  the  country  would,  in  the  interval,  be  left 
to  repose,  the  disbursements  of  the  year  diminished — a 
general  system  of  economy  might  be  adopted,  and  enlist- 
ments made  to  continue  during  the  year.  "  If  this  plan  is 
determined  upon,  every  measure  of  government  ought  to 
correspond.  The  most  uniform  principle  of  economy 
should  pervade  every  department.  We  should  not  be 
frugal  in  one  part,  and  prodigal  in  another.  We  should 
contract,  but  we  should  consolidate  our  system.  The 
army,  though  small,  should  be  of  a  firm  and  permanent 
texture.  Every  thing  possible  should  be  done  to  make 
the  situation  of  the  officers  and  soldiers  comfortable,  and 
every  inducement  offered  to  engage  men  during  the  war. 
The  most  effectual  plan  that  can  be  devised  for  enlisting 
those  already  in  the  army,  and  recruiting  in  the  country, 
ought  to  be  carried  into  immediate  execution." 

But  as  to  this  policy,  indicated  more  by  the  national 
necessities  than  by  any  other  considerations,  there  were 
grounds  of  serious  hesitation.  "  The  very  inactivity,  it 


^Er.  22.]  HAMILTON.  533 

was  naturally  feared,  might  be  attributed  to  the  weakness 
of  the  United  States,  and  thus  affect  their  credit  and  im- 
portance abroad,  and  produce  a  most  serious  effect  on 
their  negotiations  in  Europe.  It  might  also  discourage  the 
people,  inspirit  the  disaffected,  and  give  time  for  the  dis- 
contented to  combine  and  produce  extensive  divisions, 
while  a  succesful  blow  given  to  the  enemy,  in  the  reduced 
state  of  the  army,  might  compel  them  to  evacuate  the 
United  States,  to  which  there  would  be  little  probability 
of  their  return."  But  to  this  the  finances  of  the  country 
were  incompetent ;  and  it  was  believed  no  adequate  force 
could  be  assembled. 

After  deliberate  consideration,  the  Niagara  expedition 
was  laid  aside.  Operations  against  the  Indians  were  to 
be  undertaken  on  a  limited  scale ;  and  a  defensive  plan 
was  agreed  upon,  only  to  be  departed  from  in  the  contin- 
gency of  such  reinforcements  from  France,  as  would  jus- 
tify drawing  upon  the  resources  of  the  country  to  an  ex- 
tent that  would  ensure  the  accomplishing  some  capital 
object.  These  views  are  set  forth  in  a  letter  of  the  fif- 
teenth of  January  to  the  committee  of  Congress  from 
Hamilton's  pen.  Five  days  later,  a  letter,  also  from  his 
pen,  was  addressed  to  the  same  committee  as  to  the  situa- 
tion of  the  officers  of  the  army. 

Stating  that  the  new  prospects  arising  from  the  treaties 
with  France  had  diverted  their  minds  from  an  attention  to 
their  distresses,  it  was  urged  "  that  to  attach  them  heartily 
to  the  service,  their  expectations  of  futurity  must  be  in- 
terested. With  this  view,  a  half-pay  or  pensionary  estab- 
lishment for  life  was  recommended,  and  not  for  a  term  of 
years,  on  the  ground,  "  that  the  officer  looks  beyond  a  lim- 
ited period,  and  naturally  flatters  himself  that  he  will  out- 
live it."  The  unpleasant  restrictions  which  attended  the 
resolves  for  seven  years  were  condemned ;  pensions  for 


THE   REPUBLIC.  [1779. 

the  widows  of  the  officers  were  recommended ;  and  to  the 
objection  raised  to  pensions,  that  they  were  inconsistent 
with  the  maxims  of  government,  it  was  answered,  "  that  it 
equally  applied  to  pensions  for  years  as  to  those  for  lives." 
"  It  is  alike  a  pension,  in  both  cases ;  in  one,  for  a  fixed 
and  determinate  period ;  in  the  other,  for  a  contingent 
period."  Strongly  as  these  views  were  taken,  it  was 
nevertheless  cautiously  suggested,  "  that  the  subject  should 
not  be  brought  forward  unless  certain  of  success ;  that  it 
was  a  point  on  which  the  officers'  feelings  were  much  en- 
gaged, and  should  not  be  awakened  unless  gratified." 

It  was  also  proposed  that  they  should  be  provided 
with  clothing  by  the  public  at  prices  proportioned  to  their 
pay ;  that  the  rations  and  subsistence  they  had  received, 
rendered  their  situation  indigent  and  miserable,  and  the 
expedient  of  a  periodical  valuation  of  them  was  suggested. 
A  plan  drafted  by  him  was  likewise  submitted  to  this 
committee,  "for  paying  arrearages  of  clothing  to  the 
troops." 

Within  a  few  days  after,  a  plan  for  a  clothing  depart- 
ment was  proposed,  establishing  a  subordination  of  offi- 
cers, and  recommending  a  distinct  color  and  uniform  for 
each  State  corps,  to  diminish  the  expense  of  competition 
for  the  same  color,  to  distinguish  the  corps  from  each 
other,  to  discriminate  merit,  and  to  prevent  expense  to  the 
officers  by  frequent  changes. 

It  has  been  previously  observed,  that  on  the  appoint- 
ment of  Steuben,  a  brief  plan  of  an  inspectorship  had 
been  in  part  adopted  by  Congress  in  the  spring  of  seventy- 
eight.  This  plan  was  subsequently  modified  and  com- 
pleted in  the  ensuing  month  of  September,  when  the 
number  of  the  regiments  was  allotted  to  each  State. 

The  system  then  introduced,  proved  imperfect ;  and 
having  been  agreed  to  in  committee,  on  the  twenty-eighth 


^T.  22.]  HAMILTON".  525 

of  January  of  this  year,  a  new  plan  for  this  department 
was  reported  by  the  committee  of  conference  to  Con- 
gress, and  passed  on  the  eighteenth  of  February  following. 
The  report  exists  among  the  archives  of  the  government 
in  a  rough  state  ;  the  preamble  in  another  hand,  but  the 
body  of  it,  with  marks  of  alteration  by  him,  in  the  auto- 
graphy of  Hamilton ;  *  where  may  also  be  found  a  plan 
drawn  up  by  him  for  completing  the  regiments,  and 
changing  their  establishment,  in  which  is  a  project  for  an 
annual  draft.  Inducements  for  re-enlistments,  and  the 
modes  of  supplying  the  deficiency,  are  set  forth  with  great 
perspicuity,  giving  the  general  principles  for  such  a  pro- 
cedure, which,  in  similar  emergencies,  might  be  adopted 
with  advantage. 

While  these  topics  were  engaging  their  attention,  Con- 
gress was  called,  by  a  communication  from  Arthur  Lee, 
and  by  a  conference  with  the  French  minister,  to  a  nego- 
tiation with  Spain,  involving  points  of  great  moment,  the 
consideration  of  which  is  deferred  to  a  subsequent  part 
of  this  narrative. 

In  early  spring,  the  enemy,  waiting  reinforcements, 
were  content  to  harass  and  alarm  the  States  adjacent  to 
New  York  by  sudden  inroads,  which  did  not  advance  in 
the  least  the  great  object  of  the  contest,  but  only  served 
to  increase  the  horrors  of  war,  by  invading  the  unsus- 
picious security  of  the  settlements  near  the  coast.  These 
incursions  were  aggravated  by  being  chiefly  undertaken 
by  the  American  refugees ;  who,  forgetting  their  duty  to 
their  country,  discarded  all  regard  to  the  obligations  of 
humanity,  and  evincing  the  cruelty,  without  the  courage 
of  other  freebooters,  rendered  doubly  afflicting  this  border 
warfare. 

The  debatable  ground  of  Westchester  had  long  been 

*  Hamilton's  Works,  i.  168. 


526  THE  REPUBLIC.  [1779. 

a  scene  of  the  most  wanton  enormities.  There  parties 
were  regularly  organized,  under  the  singular  denomina- 
tions of  skinners  and  cow-boys ;  and,  as  a  natural  conse- 
quence of  this  petty  warfare,  long  continued,  a  great  part 
of  the  community  were  demoralized,  and  each  combina- 
tion formed  itself  into  regular  bands  of  depredators. 

But  the  principal  seat  of  these  outrages  was  in  the 
lower  districts  of  New  Jersey,  which  being  easily  acces- 
sible through  its  numerous  inlets  from  the  ocean,  and 
having  a  sparse  population,  was  kept  in  constant  alarm. 
Small  vessels  were  seen  continually  hovering  along  the 
coast,  which  made  in  upon  them  at  midnight,  carried  off 
all  the  plunder  they  could  find,  fired  the  houses,  murdered 
all  who  resisted,  and  perpetrated  shocking  barbarities. 
Bands  of  robbers  roamed  over  the  less-frequented  re- 
gions, and  along  the  barrens,  who,  excited  to  cruelty  by 
their  conflicts  with  the  militia,  marked  their  path  with 
rapine  and  with  blood. 

The  vigilance  exerted  by  Governor  Livingston,  and 
the  necessary  severity  exercised  upon  these  outlaws,  ren- 
dered him  an  object  of  their  particular  hostility,  and  plans 
were  frequently  formed  to  seize  his  person.  On  one  oc- 
casion, intelligence  of  his  being  at  a  certain  spot  was 
given,  a  party  was  embodied  to  carry  him  off,  and  two 
men,  bolder  than  the  others,  were  sent  forward  to  watch 
his  movements.  Accident  saved  him.  In  the  habit  of 
riding  at  sunrise,  he  had,  on  the  appointed  day,  awakened 
sooner  than  usual,  and  had  just  passed  the  place  selected 
for  his  capture  or  destruction,  when  the  party  made  their 
appearance,  a  few  moments  too  late.  "  The  recent  detec- 
tion," Hamilton  wrote  to  his  early  friend  in  behalf  of 
Washington,  "  of  the  wicked  design  you  mention,  gives 
me  the  most  sensible  pleasure,  and  I  earnestly  hope  you 
may  be  alike  successful  in  discovering  and  disappointing 


^ET.  22.]  HAMILTON.  527 

every  attempt  that  may  be  projected  against  you  by  your 
open  or  concealed  enemies.  It  is  a  tax,  however  severe, 
which  all  those  must  pay  who  are  called  to  eminent  sta- 
tions of  trust,  not  only  to  be  held  up  as  conspicuous  marks 
to  the  enmity  of  the  public  adversaries  to  their  country, 
but  to  the  malice  of  secret  traitors,  and  to  the  envious  in- 
trigues of  false  friends  and  factions." 

At  another  time  a  project  was  devised  for  carrying  off 
the  Speaker  of  the  New  Jersey  legislature,  which  was 
nearly  successful. 

A  similar  design  was  formed  on  the  person  of  Wash- 
ington. He  had  appointed  to  meet  some  officers  at  a 
designated  place.  Information  was  given  by  a  female  in 
the  tory  interest,  and  the  necessary  arrangements  were 
made  to  seize  him,  but  timely  intelligence*  frustrated  the 
attempt. 

A  more  serious  impression  was  made  by  a  letter  of 
Governor  Livingston,  written  about  this  time  to  Sir  Henry 
Clinton,  alleging  that  he  had  the  most  authentic  proofs  of 
a  general  officer  under  his  command  having  offered  a  large 
sum  for  his  assassination  in  case  he  could  not  be  taken 
alive,  and  intimating  that  the  person  of  General  Clinton 
might  be  reached  in  retaliation,  but  exempting  him  from 
all  knowledge  of  this  atrocious  proposal.  This  charge 
was  met  on  the  part  of  the  English  commander  with  an 
explicit  and  indignant  denial. 

The  repetition  of  these  attempts  suggested  the  idea  of 
making  Sir  Henry  Clinton  a  prisoner ;  and  a  plan  for  this 

*  A  partisan  officer,  a  native  of  New  York,  called  at  the  shop  of  Mulligan 
late  in  the  evening,  to  obtain  a  watch-coat.  The  late  hour  awakened  curiosity. 
After  some  inquiries,  the  officer  vauntiugly  boasted,  that,  before  another  day, 
they  would  have  his  rebel  General  in  their  hands.  This  stanch  patriot,  ns 
soon  as  the  officer  left  him,  hastened  unobserved  to  the  wharf,  and  despatched 
a  billet  by  a  negro,  giving  information  of  the  design. 


528  THE   REPUBLIC. 

purpose  was  devised  and  submitted  to  Washington.  He 
approved  it,  stating,  "  I  think  it  one  of  the  most  practica- 
ble, and  surely  it  will  be  among  the  most  desirable  and 
honorable  things  imaginable  to  take  him  prisoner."  The 
British  general  was  then  occupying  a  house  near  the  Bat- 
tery, in  New  York,  situate  a  few  yards  from  the  Hudson 
river.  Intelligence,  through  spies,  had  been  obtained  of 
the  approaches  to  his  bed-chamber.  Light  whaleboats, 
with  muffled  oars,  were  to  be  placed  under  the  command 
of  Colonel  Humphreys,  of  Connecticut ;  and  the  party, 
in  full  preparation,  were  waiting  anxiously  the  approach 
of  night  for  the  execution  of  their  purpose. 

Hamilton,  in  the  interval,  became  informed  of  the  in- 
tended enterprise.  Disliking  this  kind  of  warfare,  he  ob- 
served to  Washington  "  that  there  could  be  little  doubt  of 
its  success :  but,  sir,  have  you  examined  the  consequences 
of  it  ?  "  The  General  inquired,  "  in  what  respect  ?  " 
"Why,"  replied  Hamilton,  "it  has  occurred  to  me  that 
we  shall  rather  lose  than  gain,  by  removing  Sir  Henry 
Clinton  from  the  command  of  the  British  army,  because 
we  perfectly  understand  his  character.  By  taking  him 
off  we  only  make  way  for  some  other,  perhaps  an  abler 
officer,  whose  character  and  dispositions  we  have  to 
learn."  The  General  acknowledged  the  force  of  the 
objection,  and  abandoned  the  project. 

The  expedition  against  the  Indians  was  now  engaging 
Washington's  attention.  Entertaining  doubts  as  to  the 
best  mode  of  employing  the  troops  on  the  northern  fron- 
tier in  this  expedition,  a  letter  written  by  Hamilton  was 
addressed  by  Washington  to  Schuyler.  In  this  letter  the 
reasons  for  either  route  are  discussed.  A  plan  was  then 
formed,  and  the  detachments  of  troops  were  called  in  to 
compose  the  main  body. 

Advices  being  receired  of  the  return  of  the  French 


^T.  22.]  HAMILTON.  529 

fleet  to  the  United  States,  Hamilton  prepared  a  letter  to 
the  French  minister  in  the  name  of  Washington :  "  A 
clear  superiority "  of  this  fleet  "  over  the  British  naval 
force  in  America,"  was  to  be  "  the  essential  basis  to  any 
extensive  combined  operations."  Should  explicit  assur- 
ances be  given  that  Count  D'Estaing  will  proceed  with 
all  despatch  to  New  York,  with  the  permission  of  Con- 
gress, Washington  engaged  to  relinquish  all  the  present 
projects  of  the  campaign,  to  co-operate  for  the  reduc- 
tion of  New  York  and  Rhode  Island.  The  plan  pro- 
posed was,  that  D'Estaing  should  proceed  to  Georgia, 
and  in  conjunction  with  the  American  troops  there,  de- 
stroy the  enemy's  fleet  and  army.  This  accomplished, 
that  he  should  enter  the  harbor  of  New  York  expedi- 
tiously,  and  take  the  fleet  in  that  port.  Rhode  Island 
would  be  the  next  object.  These  plans,  if  attended  with 
important  successes,  "  might  open  a  new  field  of  action, 
and  lead  t£  other  important  events." 

In  the  last  days  of  the  previous  year  a  detachment  of 
British  troops  landed  near  Savannah ;  and  after  a  defeat 
of  the  American  troops  under  General  Robert  Howe,  took 
possession  of  that  city  with  all  its  military  stores.  The 
only  remaining  force  was  the  garrison  of  Sunbury,  which 
surrendered  soon  after  to  General  Prevost,  who  had 
moved  upon  it  from  Florida.  Augusta  was  also  taken 
possession  of,  and  Georgia  was  thus  reduced  to  subjection. 
General  Lincoln  was  ordered  to  replace  Howe,  the  rem- 
nant of  whose  force  he  joined  near  Savannah,  whence 
he  moved  up  that  river  to  recover  the  interior  of  the 
State.  South  Carolina,  it  was  expected,  would  be  imme- 
diately invaded.  On  the  first  advices  of  her  danger,  Col- 
onel Laurens  asked  leave  to  repair  to  the  assistance  of 
his  native  State.  Upon  his  departure  from  head-quarters, 
Hamilton,  who  had  known  similar  corps  in  the  West  In- 
VOL.  I.— 34 


530  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1779. 

dies,  approved  the  idea  of  raising  a  body  of  black  levies 
for  the  defence  of  that  State,  and  gave  him  a  letter  of 
introduction  to  Jay,  the  President  of  Congress : 

"  Colonel  Laurens,  who  will  have  the  honor  of  deliv- 
ering you  this  letter,  is  on  his  way  to  South  Carolina,  on 
a  project  which,  I  think,  in  the  present  situation  of  affairs 
there,  is  a  very  good  one,  and  deserves  every  kind  of  sup- 
port and  encouragement.  This  is,  to  raise  two,  three,  or 
four  battalions  of  negroes,  with  the  assistance  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  that  State,  by  contributions  from  the  owners, 
in  proportion  to  the  number  they  possess.  If  you  should 
think  proper  to  enter  upon  the  subject  with  him,  he  will 
give  you  a  detail  of  his  plan.  He  wishes  to  have  it  re- 
commended by  Congress  to  the  State  ;  and  as  an  induce- 
ment, that  they  would  engage  to  take  their  battalions  into 
continental  pay. 

"  It  appears  to  me,  that  an  expedient  of  this  kind  in 
the  present  state  of  southern  affairs,  is  the  mo^t  rational 
that  can  be  adopted,  and  promises  very  important  advan- 
tages. Indeed,  I  hardly  see  how  a  sufficient  force  can  be 
collected  in  that  quarter  without  it ;  and  the  enemy's 
operations  there  are  growing  infinitely  serious  and  formi- 
dable. I  have  not  the  least  doubt  that  the  negroes  will 
make  very  excellent  soldiers,  with  proper  management ; 
and  I  will  venture  to  pronounce  that  they  cannot  be  put 
in  better  hands  than  those  of  Mr.  Laurens.  He  has  all 
the  zeal,  intelligence,  and  enterprise,  and  every  other 
qualification  requisite  to  succeed  in  such  an  undertaking. 
It  is  a  maxim  with  some  great  military  judges,  that  with 
sensible  officers,  soldiers  can  hardly  be  too  stupid  ;  and  on 
this  principle  it  is  thought  that  the  Russians  would  make 
the  best  soldiers  in  the  world  if  they  were  under  other 
officers  than  their  own.  The  King  of  Prussia  is  among 
the  number  who  maintains  this  doctrine,  and  has  a  very 


^T.  22.]  HAMILTON.  531 

emphatic  saying  on  the  occasion,  which  I  do  not  exactly 
recollect.  I  mention  this  because  I  have  frequently  heard 
it  objected  to  the  scheme  of  embodying  negroes,  that  they 
are  too  stupid  to  make  soldiers.  This  is  so  far  from  ap- 
pearing to  me  a  valid  objection,  that  I  think  their  want  of 
cultivation,  (for  their  natural  faculties  are  probably  as 
good  as  ours,)  joined  to  that  habit  of  subordination  which 
they  acquire  from  a  life  of  servitude,  will  enable  them 
sooner  to  become  soldiers  than  our  white  inhabitants. 
Let  officers  be  men  of  sense  and  sentiment,  and  the 
nearer  the  soldiers  approach  to  machines,  perhaps  the 
better. 

"  I  foresee  that  this  project  will  have  to  combat  much 
opposition  from  prejudice  and  self-interest.  The  contempt 
we  have  been  taught  to  entertain  for  the  blacks,  makes 
us  fancy  many  things  that  are  founded  neither  in  reasdn 
nor  experience ;  and  an  unwillingness  to  part  with  prop- 
erty of  so  valuable  a  kind,  will  furnish  a  thousand  argu- 
ments to  show  the  impracticability  or  pernicious  tendency 
of  a  scheme  which  requires  such  sacrifices.  But  it  should 
be  considered,  that  if  we  do  not  make  use  of  them  in  this 
way,  the  enemy  probably  will,  and  that  the  best  way  to 
counteract  the  temptations  they  will  hold  out,  will  be,  to 
offer  them  ourselves.  An  essential  part  of  the  plan  is,  to 
give  them  their  freedom  with  their  swords.  This  will  se- 
cure their  fidelity,  animate  their  courage,  and,  I  believe,  will 
have  a  good  influence  upon  those  who  remain,  BY  OPENING 
A  DOOR  TO  THEIR  EMANCIPATION.  This  circumstance,  I 
confess,  has  no  small  weight  in  inducing  me  to  wish  the 
success  of  the  project ;  for  the  dictates  of  humanity  and 
true  policy  equally  interest  me  in  favor  of  this  unfortu- 
nate class  of  men. 

"  When  I  am  on  the  subject  of  southern  affairs,  you 
will  excuse  the  liberty  I  take  in  saying,  that  I  do  not 


532  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1779 

think  measures  sufficiently  vigorous  are  pursuing  for  our 
defence  in  that  quarter.  Except  the  few  regular  troops 
of  South  Carolina,  we  seem  to  be  relying  wholly  on  the 
militia  of  that  and  the  two  neighboring  States.  These 
will  soon  grow  impatient  of  service,  and  leave  our  affairs 
in  a  miserable  situation.  No  considerable  force  can  be 
uniformly  kept  up  by  militia ;  to  say  nothing  of  the  many 
obvious  and  well-known  inconveniences  that  attend  this 
kind  of  troops.  I  would  beg  leave  to  suggest,  sir,  that  no 
time  ought  to  be  lost  in  making  a  draft  of  militia  to  serve 
a  twelvemonth,  from  the  States  of  North  and  South 
Carolina  and  Virginia.  But  South  Carolina,  being  very 
weak  in  her  population  of  whites,  may  be  excused  from 
the  draft,  on  condition  of  furnishing  the  black  battalions. 
The  two  others  may  furnish  about  three  thousand  five 
hundred  men,  and  be  exempted,  on  that  account,  from 
sending  any  succors  to  this  army.  The  States  to  the 
northward  of  Virginia  will  be  fully  able  to  give  competent 
supplies  to  the  army  here  ;  and  it  will  require  all  the  force 
and  exertions  of  the  three  States  I  have  mentioned,  to 
withstand  the  storm  which  has  arisen,  and  is  increasing  in 
the  south. 

"  The  troops  drafted  must  be  thrown  into  battalions, 
and  officered  in  the  best  manner  we  can.  The  supernu- 
merary officers  may  be  made  use  of  as  far  as  they  will 
go.  If  arms  are  wanted  for  their  troops,  and  no  better 
way  of  supplying  them  is  to  be  found,  we  should  endea- 
vor to  levy  a  contribution  of  arms  upon  the  militia  at  large. 
Extraordinary  exigencies  demand  extraordinary  means. 
I  fear  this  southern  business  will  become  a  very  grave  one." 

The  following  extract  of  a  letter  from  Laurens  to 
Hamilton,  dated  at  Charleston,  refers  to  this  subject : 

"  Ternant  will  relate  to  you  how  many  violent  strug- 
gles I  have  had  between  duty  and  inclination — how  much 


^Er.  22.]  HAMILTON.  533 

my  heart  was  with  you,  while  I  appeared  to  be  most  ac- 
tively employed  here.  But  it  appears  to  me  that  I  should 
be  inexcusable  in  the  light  of  a  citizen,  if  I  did  not  con- 
tinue my  utmost  efforts  for  carrying  the  plan  of  the  black 
levies  into  execution,  while  there  remain  the  smallest 
hopes  of  success. 

"  Our  army  is  reduced  to  nothing  almost,  by  the  de- 
parture of  the  Virginians.  Scott's  arrival  will  scarcely 
restore  us  to  our  ancient  number.  If  the  enemy  destine 
the  reinforcements  from  Great  Britain  to  this  quarter,  as 
in  policy  they  ought  to  do,  that  number  will  be  insufficient 
for  the  security  of  our  country.  The  governor,  among 
other  matters  to  be  laid  before  the  House  of  Assembly, 
intends  to  propose  the  completing  our  continental  batta- 
lions by  drafts  from  the  militia.  This  measure,  I  am  told, 
is  so  unpopular  that  there  is  no  hope  of  succeeding  in  it, 
Either  thjs  must  be  adopted,  or  the  black  levies,  or  the 
State  will  fall  a  victim  to  the  improvidence  of  its  inhab- 
itants. 

"  The  House  of  Representatives  have  had  a  longer  re 
cess  than  usual,  occasioned  by  the  number  of  members  in 
the  field.  It  will  be  convened,  however,  in  a  few  days. 
I  intend  to  qualify,  and  make  a  final  effort.  Oh,  that  I 
were  a  Demosthenes!  The  Athenians  never  deserved  a 
more  bitter  exprobation  than  our  countrymen. 

"General  Clinton's  movement,  and  your  march  in  con- 
sequence, made  me  wish  to  be  with  you.  If  any  thing 
important  should  be  done  in  your  quarter,  while  I  am  do 
ing  daily  penance  here,  and  making  successless  harangues, 
I  shall  execrate  my  stars,  and  be  out  of  humor  with  the 
world.  I  entreat  you,  my  dear  friend,  write  me  as  fre- 
quently as  circumstances  will  permit,  and  enlighten  me 
upon  what  is  going  forward. 

"  Adieu.     My  love   to  our  colleagues.     I  am  afraid  I 


534  THE   KE PUBLIC.  [1779 

was  so  thoughtless  as  to  omit  my  remembrances  to  Gibbes. 
Tell  him  that  I  am  always  his  sincere  well-wisher,  and 
hope  to  laugh  with  him  again  ere  long.  Adieu,  again. 
Yours  ever. 

"P.  S.  You  know  my  opinion  of  Ternant's  value.  His 
health  and  affairs  call  him  to  the  north.  If  you  can  ren- 
der him  any  services,  they  will  be  worthily  bestowed. 
We  have  not  hitherto  availed  ourselves  of  his  zeal  and 
talent." 

Congress  had,  late  in  the  previous  ^ear,  "presented" 
Laurens  with  a  commission  as  lieutenant-colonel,  in  testi- 
mony of  his  merits,  and  recommended  Washington  to  give 
him  "  a  command  agreeable  to  his  rank."  Laurens  de- 
clined the  unexpected  honor,  as  injurious  to  the  rights  of 
the  officers  of  the  line, .and  as  "an  evident  injustice  to  his 
colleagues  in  the  family  of  the  commander-in-chief." 
Congress  approved  his  motives.  On  his  proposed  depar- 
ture for  South  Carolina,  they  again  passed  a  special  reso- 
lution granting  him  a  commission. 

Hamilton  wrote  to  him,  in  answer  to  a  Jetter  alluding 
to  this  fact : 

"  Cold  in  my  professions — warm  in  my  friendships — 
I  wish,  my  deal'  Laurens,  it  were  in  my  power,  by  actions, 
rather  than  words,  to  convince  you  that  I  love  you.  I 
shall  only  tell  you,  that  till  you  bid  us  adieu,  I  hardly 
knew  the  value  you  had  taught  my  heart  to  set  upon  you. 
Indeed,  my  friend,  it  was  not  well  done.  You  know  the 
opinion^ I  entertain  of  mankind,  and  how  much  it  is  my 
desire  to  preserve  myself  free  from  particular  attach- 
ments, and  to  keep  my  happiness  independent  of  the  ca- 
prices of  others.  You  should  not  have  taken  advantage 
of  my  sensibility,  to  steal  into  my  affections  without  my 
consent.  But  as  you  have  done  it,  and  as  we  are  gener- 
ally indulgent  to  those  we  love,  I  shall  not  scruple  to  par- 


^Ex.  22.]  HAMILTON.  535 

don  the  fraud  you  have  committed,  on  one  condition  :  that 
for  my  sake,  if  not  for  your  own,  you  will  continue  to 
merit  the  partiality  which  you  have  so  artfully  instilled 
into  me. 

"  I  have  received  your  two  letters ;  one  from  Philadel- 
phia, the  other  from  Chester.  I  am  pleased  with  your 
success  so  far ;  and  I  hope  the  favorable  omens  that  pre- 
cede your  application  to  the  Assembly,  may  have  as  favor- 
able an  issue  ;  provided  the  situation  of  affairs  should  re- 
quire it,  which  I  fear  will  be  the  case.  But,  both  for  your 
country's  sake,  and  for  my  own,  I  wish  the  enemy  may 
be  gone  from  Georgia  before  you  arrive ;  and  that  you 
may  be  obliged  to  return,  and  share  the  fortunes  of  your 
old  friends.  In  respect  to  the  commission  which  you  re- 
ceived from  Congress,  all  the  world  must  think  your  con- 
duct perfectly  right.  Indeed,  your  ideas  tfpon  this  occa- 
sion seem  not  to  have  their  wonted  accuracy ;  and  you 
have  had  scruples,  in  a  great  measure,  without  foundation. 
By  your  appointment  as  aide-de-camp  to  the  commander- 
in-chief,  you  had  as  much  the  rank  of  lieutenant-colonel 
as  any  officer  in  the  line.  Your  receiving  a  commission 
as  lieutenant-colonel,  from  the  date  of  that  appointment, 
does  not  in  the  least  injure  or  interfere  with  one  of  them; 
unless  by  virtue  of  it  you  are  introduced  into  a  particular 
regiment,  in  violation  of  the  right  of  succession,  which  is 
not  the  case  at  present,  neither  is  it  a  necessary  conse- 
quence. As  you  were  going  to  command  a  battalion,  it 
was  proper  you  should  have  a  commission ;  and  if  this 
commission  had  been  dated  posterior  to  your  appointment 
as  aide-de-camp,  I  should  have  considered  it  derogatory 
to  your  former  rank,  to  mine,  and  to  that  of  the  whole 
corps.  The  only  thing  I  see  wrong  in  the  affair  is  this : 
Congress,  by  their  conduct,  both  on  the  former  and  pres- 
ent occasion,  appear  to  have  intended  to  confer  a  privi- 


536  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1779 

lege,  an  honor,  a  mark  of  distinction,  a  something  upon 
you,  which  they  withheld  from  other  gentlemen  of  the 
family.  This  carries  with  it  an  air  of  preference,  which, 
though  we  can  all  truly  say  we  love  your  character  and 
admire  your  military  merit,  cannot  fail  to  give  some  of  us 
uneasy  sensations.  But  in  this,  my  dear,  I  wish  you  to 
understand  me  well.  The  blame,  if  there  is  any,  falls 
wholly  upon  Congress.  I  repeat  it,  your  conduct  has 
been  perfectly  right,  and  even  laudable  ; — you  rejected 
the  offer  when  you  ought  to  have  rejected  it,  md  you  ac- 
cepted it  when  you  ought  to  have  accepted  it ;  and  let  me 
add,  with  a  degree  of  over-scrupulous  delicacy.  It  was 
necessary  to  your  project.  Your  project  was  the  public 
good ;  and  I  should  have  done  the  same.  In  hesitating, 
you  have  refined  on  the  refinements  of  generosity. 

"  There  is  a  total  stagnation  of  news  here.  Gates  has 
refused  the  Indian  command.  Sullivan  is  come  to  take  it. 
The  former  has  lately  given  a  fresh  proof  of  his  impu- 
dence, his  folly,  and  his  *********.  'Tis  no  great  matter ; 
but  a  peculiarity  in  the  case  prevents  my  saying  what. 

"  Fleury  shall  be  taken  care  of.  All  the  family  send 
love.  In  this  join  the  General  and  Mrs.  Washington  ;  and 
what  is  best,  it  is  not  in  the  style  of  ceremony,  but  sin- 
cerity." 

Intelligence  from  Europe  favorable  to  the  American 
cause  having  been  received,  a  letter  was  addressed  by 
Hamilton  to  Jay,  for  Congress,  in  the  name  of  Washing 
ton,  regretting  that  it  "  had  not  yet  been  given  to  the  pub 
lie  in  a  manner  calculated  to  attract  the  attention  and  im- 
press the  minds  of  the  people.     It  would  assist  the  meas- 
ures taken  to  restore  our  currency,  promote  the  recruit- 
ing the  army  and  our  other  military  arrangements,  and 
give  a  certain  spring  to  our  affairs  in  general." 

A  letter  was  also  addressed   by  him  to  the  Board  of 


/Er.  22.]  HAMILTON.  537 

War  respecting  the  clothing  department,  the  supply  of 
ordnance,  and  of  arms  for  the  cavalry,  objecting  to  their 
proposed  reduction. 

Congress  having  late  in  the  month  of  February  passed 
a  resolution  expressing  their  desire  that  an  offensive  expe- 
dition should  be  undertaken  against  the  Indians  in  western 
New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  secret  preparations  were 
being  made.  The  number  of  Indian  warriors  with  the 
persons  who  had  joined  them  in  this  region,  was  estimated 
at  three  thousand.  The  force  to  be  sent  against  them 
would  be  four  thousand  Continentals,  and  such  aids  of 
militia  as  might  be  deemed  absolutely  necessary.  The 
command  of  this  expedition  was  tendered  to  Gates  in  a 
letter  written  by  Hamilton.  Gates,  as  has  been  stated, 
declined  it.  "  The  man  who  undertakes  the  Indian  ser- 
vice," he  wrote  to  Washington,  "  should  enjoy  youth  and 
strength,  requisites  I  do  not  possess.  It  therefore  grieves 
me  that  your  excellency  should  offer  me  the  only  com- 
mand to  which  I  am  entirely  unequal."  In  answer  to  a 
previous  letter,  Gates  had  written  a  comment  on  the  pro- 
posed mode  of  entering  Canada,  which  he  communicated 
to  Congress,  containing  a  reflection  upon  the  commander- 
in-chief,  and  a  most  insulting  allusion  to  Schuyler.  A 
long  letter  from  Washington  to  Jay,  of  which  the  draft  is 
in  Hamilton's  hand,  previously  referred  to,  vindicates  his 
conduct,  and  exposes  Gates.  "  I  am  sorry,"  it  is  observed, 
"  his  conduct  to  me  has  not  been  equally  generous,  and 
that  he  is  continually  giving  me  fresh  proofs  of  malevo- 
lence and  opposition.  It  will  not  be  doing  him  injustice 
to  say,  that,  besides  the  little,  underhand  intrigues  which 
he  is  frequently  practising,  there  has  hardly  been  any 
great  military  question  in  which  his  advice  has  been  asked, 
that  it  has  not  been  given  in  an  equivocal  and  designing 
manner,  apparently  calculated  to  afford  him  an  opportu- 


538  THE  REPUBLIC.  [1779. 

nity  of  censuring  me,  on  the  failure  of  whatever  measure 
might  be  adopted." 

As  the  spring  opened,  it  became  important  to  decide 
on  the  operations  of  the  army.  The  inferiority  of  the 
French  fleet  compelled  an  abandonment  of  the  contem- 
plated attack  upon  New  York.  Gerard  having  recently 
visited  head-quarters,  Hamilton  wrote  to  Gouverneur 
Morris,  in  the  name  of  Washington,  on  the  eighth  of 
May.  "  From  what  he  told  me,  it  appears  that  sufficient 
assurances  cannot  be  given  on  points  which  are  essential 
to  justify  the  great  undertaking  you  had  in  view  at  the 
expense  of  other  operations  very  interesting  ;  and,  indeed, 
though  I  was  desirous  to  convince  the  minister  that  we 
are  willing  to  make  every  effort  in  our  power  for  striking 
a  decisive  blow,  yet  my  judgment  rather  inclined  to  the 
second  plan,  as  promising  more  certain  success  without  put- 
ting so  much  to  hazard.  The  relief  of  the  Southern  States 
appears  to  me  an  object  of  the  greatest  magnitude,  and  one 
that  may  lead  to  still  more  important  advantages.  I  feel 
infinite  anxiety  on  their  account.  Their  internal  weakness, 
disaffection,  the  want  of  energy,  the  general  languor  thai 
has  seized  the  people  at  large,  make  me  apprehend  the 
most  serious  consequences.  It  would  seem,  too,  as  if  the 
enemy  meant  to  transfer  the  principal  weight  of  the  war 
that  way.  If  it  be  true  that  a  large  detachment  has  late- 
ly sailed  from  New  York,  and  that  Sir  Henry  Clinton  is 
gone  with  it,  and  these  should  be  destined  southward,  as 
is  most  probable,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  this  is  the 
present  plan.  Charleston,  it  is  likely,  will  feel  the  next 
stroke.  This,  if  it  succeeds,  will  leave  the  enemy  in  ful' 
possession  of  Georgia,  by  obliging  us  to  collect  our  forces 
for  the  defence  of  South  Carolina,  and  will,  consequently, 
open  new  sources  for  men  and  supplies,  and  prepare  the 
way  for  a  further  career.  It  is  to  be  lamented  that  the 


Mr.  22.]  HAMILTON.  539 

remoteness  and  weakness  of  this  army  would  make  it  fol- 
ly to  attempt  tJ  send  any  succor  from  this  quarter."  A 
sad  picture  was  given :  "  The  rapid  decay  of  our  curren- 
cy, the  extinction  of  public  spirit,  the  increasing  rapacity 
of  the  times,  the  want  of  harmony  in  our  councils,  the 
declining  zeal  of  the  people,  the  discontents  and  distresses 
of  tne  officers  of  the  army,  and,  I  may  add,  the  prevailing 
security  and  insensibility  to  danger,  are  symptoms,  in  my 
eyes,  of  a  most  alarming  nature.  Our  army,  as  it  now 
stands,  is  little  more  than  the  skeleton  of  an  army ;  and  I 
hear  of  no  steps  that  are  taking  to  give  it  strength  and 
substance.  When  I  endeavor  to  draw  together  the  conti- 
nental troops  for  the  most  essential  purposes,  I  am  embar- 
rassed with  complaints  of  the  exhausted,  defenceless  situ- 
ation of  particular  States,  and  find  myself  obliged,  either 
to  resist  solicitations,  made  in  such  a  manner  and  with 
such  a  degree  of  emphasis  as  scarcely  to  leave  me  a 
choice,  or  to  sacrifice  the  most  obvious  principles  of  mili- 
tary propriety  and  risk  the  general  safety.  I  shall  con- 
clude by  observing,  that  it  is  well  worthy  the  ambition 
of  a  patriot  statesman  at  this  juncture,  to  endeavor  to 
pacify  party  differences,  to  give  fresh  vigor  to  the  springs 
of  government,  to  inspire  the  people  with  confidence,  and 
above  all,  to  restore  the  credit  of  our  currency." 

The  distresses  of  the  officers  here  adverted  to  were 
now  seen  to  threaten  alarming  consequences.  Three 
hundred  officers  had  resigned  before  the  beginning  of  this 
year.  Of  those  who  remained  in  the  service,  a  few, 
driven  to  despair  by  their  sufferings,  became  insubordi- 
nate. The  Jersey  brigade  had  been  ordered  to  join  the 
expedition  against  the  Indians.  Its  officers  presented  a 
memorial  to  the  legislature  of  that  State,  demanding  a 
provision  for  themselves  and  their  troops  within  three 
days,  stating,  if  not  granted,  they  might  be  considered  as 


5-10  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1779 

having  resigned.  On  receiving  this  memorial  from  Gen- 
eral Maxwell,  Hamilton,  in  the  name,  of  Washington, 
wrote  him,  on  the  seventh  of  May,  in  terms  of  remarka- 
ble beauty  and  delicacy,  "  I  cannot  but  consider  it  as  a 
hasty  and  imprudent  step,  which,  on  more  cool  considera- 
tion, they  will  themselves  condemn.  I  am  very  sensible 
of  the  inconveniences  under  which  they  labor  ;  and  I  hope 
they  do  me  the  justice  to  believe,  that  my  endeavors  to 
procure  them  relief  are  incessant."  Having  stated  the 
pecuniary  embarrassments  of  Congress,  and  their  sensi- 
bility to  the  merits  and  sacrifices  of  the  officers,  he 
added:  "The  patience  and  perseverance  of  the  army 
have  been,  under  every  disadvantage,  such  as  to  do  them 
the  highest  honor,  both  at  home  and  abroad ;  and  have 
inspired  me  with  an  unlimited  confidence  in  their  virtue, 
which  has  consoled  me  amidst  every  perplexity  and  re- 
verse of  fortune  to  which  our  affairs  in  a  struggle  of  this 
nature  were  necessarily  exposed.  Now  that  we  have 
made  so  great  a  progress  to  the  attainment  of  the  end  we 
have  in  view  so  that  we  cannot  fail  without  a  most  shame- 
ful desertion  of  our  own  enterprises,  any  thing  like  a 
change  of  conduct  would  imply  an  unhappy  change  of 
principles,  and  a  forgetfulness,  as  well  of  what  we  owe 
to  ourselves  as  to  our  country.  Did  I  suppose  it  possible 
this  could  be  the  case,  even  in  a  single  regiment  of  the 
army,  I  should  be  mortified  and  chagrined  beyond  ex- 
pression. I  should  feel  it  as  a  wound  given  to  my  own 
honor,  which  I  consider  as  embarked  with  that  of  the 
army  at  large.  But  this  I  believe  to  be  impossible.  I 
confess  the  appearances  in  the  present  instance  are  dis- 
agreeable, but  I  am  convinced  they  seem  to  mean  more 
than  they  really  do.  The  Jersey  officers  have  not  been 
outdone  by  any  others  in  the  qualities  either  of  citizens  or 
of  soldiers ;  and  I  am  confident  no  part  of  them  would 


Mr.  22.]  HAMILTON.  54] 

seriously  entertain  any  thing  that  would  be  a  stain  to 
their  former  reputation.  The  gentlemen  cannot  be  in 
earnest.  They  have  only  reasoned  wrong  about  the  mean? 
of  obtaining  a  good  end ;  and  on  reconsideration,  I  hopf 
and  flatter  myself  they  will  renounce  what  must  appeal 
improper  at  the  opening  of  a  campaign  ;  when  undej 
marching  orders  for  an  important  service,  their  own  hon- 
or, duty  to  the  public  and  to  themselves,  a  regard  to  mili- 
tary propriety,  will  not  suffer  them  to  persist  in  a  measure 
which  would  be  a  violation  of  them  all.  The  declaration 
they  have  made  to  the  State  at  so  critical  a  time,  that 
unless  they  obtain  relief  in  the  short  period  of  three  days, 
they  must  be  considered  out  of  the  service,  has  very  much 
the  aspect  '  of  dictating  terms  to  this  country  ; '  and  the 
seeming  relaxation  of  continuing  till  the  State  can  have  a 
reasonable  time  to  provide  other  officers,  will  be  thought 
only  a  superficial  veil."  An  order  was  given  that  the 
regiment  march  without  delay.  "We  are  sorry,"  was 
the  reply,  "  that  you  should  imagine  we  meant  to  disobey 
orders.  It  was,  and  still  is  our  determination  to  march 
with  our  regiments,  and  to  do  the  duty  of  officers  until 
the  legislature  have  reasonable  time  to  appoint  others,  but 
no  longer."  A  second  letter  to  General  Maxwell  on  this- 
subject,  from  the  pen  of  Hamilton,  stated:  "I  am  sorry 
to  find  the  gentlemen  persist  in  the  principles  which  dic- 
tated the  step  they  have  taken,  as,  the  more  the  affair 
unfolds  itself,  the  more  reason  I  see  to  disapprove  it.  But 
in  the  present  view  they  have  of  the  matter,  and  with 
their  present  feelings,  it  is  not  probable  any  new  argu- 
ment that  could  be  offered,  would  have  more  influence 
than  the  former.  While,  therefore,  the  gentlemen  con- 
tinue in  the  execution  of  their  duty,  as  they  declare  them- 
selves heartily  disposed  to  do,  I  shall  only  regret  that 
they  have  taken  a  step  of  which  they  must  hereafter  see 


542  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1779. 

the  impropriety.  There  is  one  thing  to  which  I  cannot 
forbear  calling  your  particular  attention.  I  observe  in 
the  memorial  of  which  you  have  sent  me  a  copy,  that  the 
gentlemen  concerned  dwell,  among  other  things,  upon  the 
insufficiency  of  the  soldier's  pay.  This  is  a  doctrine  full 
of  dangerous  consequences,  and  which  ought  not  to  be 
countenanced  in  any  way  whatever.  Neither  is  it  well- 
founded."  "It  is  important  that  any  misconception  on 
this  point  should  be  rectified."  The  legislature,  by  the 
assurance  that  their  demands  would  be  acceded  to,  in- 
duced the  officers  to  withdraw  their  memorial.  Votes 
were  immediately  passed  for  the  requisite  sum.  Payment 
was  made,  and  the  regiment  marched.  This  unavoidable 
temporizing  was  the  precedent  for  a  similar  demand  by 
another  line  of  the  army. 

"This  is  an  affair,"  Hamilton  wrote  on  the  tenth  of 
May,  in  behalf  of  Washington,  to  the  President,  "  which 
Congress  will  no  doubt  view  in  a  very  serious  light.  To 
me  it  appears  truly  alarming.  It  shows  what  is  to  be  ap- 
prehended, if  some  adequate  provision  is  not  generally 
made  for  the  officers.  I  shall  only  observe,  that  the  dis- 
tresses in  some  corps  are  so  great,  either  where  they  were 
not  till  lately  attached  to  particular  States,  or  where  the 
States  have  been  less  provident,  that  officers  have  solicited 
even  to  be  supplied  with  the  clothing  destined  for  the 
common  soldiery.  Coarse  and  unsuitable  as  they  were,  I 
had  not  power  to  comply  with  their  request.  The  pa- 
tience of  men  animated  by  a  sense  of  duty  and  honor, 
will  support  them  to  a  certain  point,  beyond  which  it 
will  not  go.  I  view  the  conduct  of  the  officers  concerned 
in  the  present  instance  as  highly  blamable ;  and  I  have 
signified  my  disapprobation.  I  trust  the  mode  will  not  be 
thought  too  mild,  when  our  situation  is  considered.  The 
causes  of  discontent  are  too  great  and  too  general,  and 


.  22.]  HAMILTON. 


543 


the  ties  that  bind  the  officers  to  the  service  too  feeble,  to 
admit  of  rigor.  It  is  lamentable  that  the  measure  "  (the 
provision  by  the  legislature)  "  should  have  been  delayed 
till  it  became  in  a  manner  extorted.  Notwithstanding  the 
expedient  adopted  for  saving  appearances,  this  cannot  fail 
to  operate  as  a  bad  precedent." 

The  insubordination  of  the  army  was  not  the  only  great 
source  of  disquietude  at  this  time.  The  dissatisfaction  of 
certain  States  with  the  protection  given  to  their  frontiers, 
has  been  previously  mentioned.  It  was  conspicuous  on 
the  part  of  Pennsylvania.  Hamilton  wrote  to  its  Presi- 
dent in  Washington's  name  on  the  twentieth  of  May : 
"  It  is  my  constant  endeavor  to  cultivate  the  confidence 
of  the  governments  of  the  several  States,  by  an  equal 
and  uniform  attention  to  their  respective  interests,  so  far 
as  falls  within  the  line  of  my  duty  and  the  compass  of  the 
means  with  which  I  am  entrusted.  While  I  have  a  con- 
sciousness of  this,  it  is  natural  my  sensibility  should  be 
affected  even  by  the  appearance  of  distrust.  The  assur- 
ances of  the  council  that  I  have  misconceived  their  former 
letters,  affords  me  pleasure  proportioned  to  the  pain  which 
that  misconception  produced." 

On  the  thirty-first  of  May,  instructions  from  Hamil- 
ton's pen  were  addressed  to  Sullivan  by  Washington,  as 
to  the  conduct  of  the  expedition  against  the  Indians.  The 
main  body  was  to  be  assembled  at  Wyoming,  which  had 
recently  been  devastated  by  Brandt  and  Butler,  and  pro- 
ceed thence  to  Tioga,  and  onward  "into  the  heart  of  the 
Indian  settlements."  Intermediate  posts  were  to  be  es- 
tablished for  the  security  of  the  convoys,  and  a  stockade 
fort,  or  an  intrenched  camp  with  a  block-house  in  the 
centre  at  Tioga,  also  a  strong  post  in  the  centre  of  the 
Indian  country.  The  mode  of  fighting  was  such  as 
Washington's  early  experience  would  suggest :  "  to  make 


544  THE   EE PUBLIC.  [1779. 

rather  than  receive  attacks,  attended  with  as  much  impet- 
uosity, shouting,  and  noise  as  possible,  and  to  make  the 
troops  act  in  as  loose  and  dispersed  a  way  as  is  consistent 
with  a  proper  degree  of  government,  concert,  and  mutual 
support.  It  should  be  previously  impressed  upon  the 
minds  of  the  men,  whenever  they  have  an  opportunity,  to 
rush  on  with  the  wrar-whoop  and  fixed  bayonet.  Nothing 
will  disconcert  and  terrify  the  Indians  more  than  this." 
The  end  to  be  attained  was  a  reduction  to  submission,  and 
"the  delivering  up  of  the  principal  instigators  of  their 
past  hostility."  A  surprise  of  the  garrison  at  Niagara 
and  of  the  shipping  on  the  lakes,  was  to  be  attempted. 
The  performance  of  their  engagements  was  to  be  se- 
cured by  hostages.  The  main  body,  under  Sullivan. 
Hand's,  Maxwell's,  and  Poor's  regiments,  including  But- 
ler's rifles,  moved  up  the  Susquehanna,  and  were  to  be 
joined  by  the  New  York  troops  who  had  passed  up  the 
Mohawk.  The  last  of  August  a  battle  took  place  with 
the  usual  result,  the  defeat  of  the  Indians.  Their  settle- 
ments were  then  broken  up  by  a  sad  devastation.  Those 
who  escaped  took  refuge  at  Fort  Niagara.  Sullivan  and 
his  army  received  the  thanks  of  Congress.  This  was 
this  gallant  soldier's  last  military  service.  Soon  after, 
with  injured  health,  he  retired  to  New  Hampshire,  when, 
grateful  for  his  distinguished  conduct,  he  was  again  elect- 
ed to  represent  that  State  in  Congress. 

Some  time  previous,  a  negotiation  for  the  exchange  of 
prisoners  was  opened  on  the  part  of  Washington  in  a  let- 
ter to  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  prepared  by  Hamilton,  Con- 
gress having  recently  authorized  the  settlement  of  a  gen- 
eral cartel.  It  was  observed,  "  that  the  present  attempt 
may  not  prove  as  unsuccessful  as  former  ones,  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that,  apprised  of  the  difficulties  which  have  oc- 
curred, and  with  a  liberal  attention  to  the  circumstances 


^ET.  22.]  HAMILTON.  545 

of  the  parties,  the  commissioners  will  come,  disposed  to 
accommodate  their  negotiations  to  them,  and  to  level  all 
unnecessary  obstructions  to  the  completion  of  the  treaty." 
In  a  subsequent  letter  written  by  Hamilton  to  Congress, 
it  is  stated,  "  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  in  the  present 
stage  of  the  controversy,  the  exchange  of  citizens  is  im- 
politic, and  affords  a  temptation  to  the  enemy  to  distress 
that  part  of  society  more  than  they  might  otherwise  do. 
The  subjecting  them  to  captivity  is,  I  apprehend,  contrary 
to  common  practice,  except  with  respect  to  such  as  are 
acting  in  particular  civil  offices  immediately  connected 
with  military  duties,  as  the  governors  of  garrisoned  towns 
and  the  like."  In  the  same  letter  the  opinion  is  again  ex- 
pressed, that  no  part  of  the  main  army  could  be  spared  to 
the  aid  of  the  Southern  States ;  and  that  the  Carolinas 
must  endeavor  to  complete  their  battalions,  militia  being 
incompetent  to  their  defence.  Still,  these  States  were  to 
be  protected.  With  this  view*  General  Scott  was  or- 
dered to  march  the  men  raised  in  Virginia  to  their  relief. 
An  expedition  of  the  enemy  up  the  Chesapeake,  made  at 
this  time  under  General  Matthews,  ought  not,  Washington 
stated  in  a  letter  written  by  Hamilton,  "  to  delay  the  suc- 
cor intended  for  that  quarter."  "  The  injury  we  can  suffer 
in  Virginia  appears  inconsiderable  compared  to  that  which 
may  befall  us  in  Georgia  and  Carolina.  One  principal 
motive  of  the  enemy's  present  movement  in  Virginia,  may 
be  to  create  a  diversion  in  favor  of  their  operations  in 
those  States." 

The  delays  in  raising  troops  had  induced  Washington 
to  issue  a  circular  address  to  the  governors  of  the  Eastern 
and  Middle  States,  urging  reinforcements.  This  paper  was 
prepared  by  Hamilton.  "When  we  consider,"  it  pro- 
ceeds, "  the  rapid  decline  of  our  currency,  the  general 

*  May  25. 
VOL.  I.— 35 


546  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1779. 

temper  of  the  times,  the  disaffection  of  a  great  part  of  the 
people,  the  lethargy  that  benumbs  the  rest,  the  increasing 
danger  that  threatens  the  Southern  States,  we  cannot  but 
dread  the  consequences  of  any  misfortune  in  this  quarter, 
and  must  feel  the  impolicy  of  trusting  our  security  to  the 
precarious  hope  of  a  want  of  enterprise  and  activity  of  the 
enemy."  The  probability  of  reinforcements  to  them  is 
stated,  and  an  earnest  appeal  made  for  "the  public 
safety." 

At  the  same  time,  a  blow  was  projected  against  the 
naval  force  in  the  harbor  of  New  York,  much  reduced  by 
recent  expeditions.  A  letter  prepared  by  Hamilton 
was  addressed  to  the  marine  committee  of  Congress  with 
this  intent.  It  proposed  the  collection  of  the  American 
frigates  to  the  eastward,  and  their  direction  to  this  point. 
"  I  should  be  loth  materially  to  risk  our  little  fleet,  but  the 
object  here  is  so  inviting  as  to  induce  me  to  press  it  upon 
the  serious  consideration  of  the  committee.  I  need  not 
say  the  success  of  such  an  enterprise  must  essentially 
depend  on  the  secrecy,  boldness  and  despatch  with  which 
it  is  executed."  A  correspondent  military  movement  was 
contemplated.  The  attempt  was  not  made. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

INDICATIONS  were  now  given  of  a  movement  of  the  ene- 
my up  the  Hudson,  prompted  by  the  reduced  strength  of 
the  Americans.  In  several  letters  addressed  by  Hamilton 
to  the  officers  commanding  detachments,  they  were  or- 
dered to  be  on  the  alert  at  the  earliest  warning. 

On  the  third  of  June  he  announced,  in  behalf  of 
Washington,  to  Congress,  his  intention  to  move  that  day 
towards  the  Highlands.  A  message,  also  written  by  him, 
was  sent  to  West  Point,  giving  an  assurance  that  he  was 
"  determined  at  the  utmost  hazard  to  support  the  fort,  and 
his  expectation  that  it  will  hold  out  to  the  last  extremity." 
Another  letter  was  soon  after  written  by  him  to  General 
Schuyler  in  Washington's  name,  stating  that  the  enemy 
were  in  two  divisions  on  the  opposite  sides  of  the  Hud- 
son— one  at  Verplanck's  Point  and  the  other  at  Stony 
Point  opposite,  and  were  fortifying.  "  This  will  interrupt 
our  easiest  communication  between  the  Eastern  and 
Southern  States,  open  a  new  source  of  supplies  to  them, 
and  a  new  door  to  distress  and  disaffect  the  country. 
We  have  the  mortification  to  be  the  spectators  of  this,  and 
from  the  situation  of  the  ground  and  other  circumstances, 
to  see  it  out  of  our  power  to  counteract  a  measure  from 
which  we  must  experience  many  inconveniences.  That 
part  of  the  army  which  lay  at  Middlebrook  is  now  in 


548  THE   EEPUBLIC.  [1779. 

Smith's  Clove  in  order  to  give  effectual  succor  to  the  fort 
in  case  the  enemy's  further  operations  should  be  directed 
that  way."  Washington  now  visited  West  Point,  whither 
he  ordered  General  McDougall  to  repair.  In  the  weak- 
ened condition  of  the  army,  having  posted  troops  a  short 
distance  below,  he  established  his  head-quarters  at  New 
Windsor,  a  small  village  on  the  western  bank  of  the  Hud- 
son, just  above  the  Highlands.  From  this  place,  on  the 
first  of  July,  Hamilton,  in  the  name  of  Washington,  in- 
formed General  Wayne  of  his  appointment  to  the  com- 
mand of  the  light  infantry  of  the  line,  and  ordered  him  to 
proceed  to  the  vicinity  of  Fort  Montgomery.  "  If  at  any 
time,"  it  was  observed,  "you  see  a  favorable  opportunity 
for  striking  an  advantageous  stroke,  you  have  my  permis- 
sion for  improving  it,  as  I  rely  upon  your  prudence  that 
you  will  undertake  nothing  without  a  sufficient  prospect 
of  success ;  and  unless  the  advantages  to  be  obtained  will 
compensate  the  risk  to  be  run.  When  you  have  any  pro- 
ject of  consequence,  and  circumstances  will  permit,  you 
will  be  pleased  to  communicate  it  to  me  previous  to  the 
execution." 

Four  days  after,  a  large  party  of  the  enemy  proceeded 
up  the  Sound,  under  the  command  of  Tryon,  captured  and 
plundered  New  Haven.  Thence  they  made  a  descent 
upon  Fairfield,  which  they  laid  in  ashes.  A  similar  scene 
of  barbarity  was  exhibited  at  Norwalk. 

Hamilton,  in  the  name  of  Washington,  again  wrote  to 
Wayne :  "  While  the  enemy  are  making  excursions  to 
distress  the  country,  it  has  a  very  disagreeable  aspect  to 
remain  in  a  state  of  inactivity  on  our  part.  The  reputa- 
tion of  the  army  and  the  good  of  the  service  seem  to  ex- 
act some  attempt  from  it.  The  importance  of  Stony 
Point  to  the  enemy,  makes  it  infinitely  desirable  that 
should  be  the  object.  The  works  are  formidable,  but  per- 


^ET.  22.]  HAMILTON.  549 

haps,  on  a  fuller  examination,  they  may  be  found  accessi- 
ble. A  deserter  informed  me  yesterday,  there  was  a 
sandy  beach  on  the  south  side  running  along  the  flank  of 
the  works,  and  only  obstructed  by  a  slight  abatis,  which 
might  afford  an  easy  and  safe  approach  to  a  body  of 
troops.  I  wish  you  to  take  every  step  in  your  power  to 
ascertain  this,  and  to  gain  a  more  accurate  knowledge  of 
the  position  in  general,  particularly  on  the  flank  and  in 
the  rear.  Would  it  answer  to  send  in  a  trusty,  intelligent 
fellow  from  you  in  character  of  a  deserter,  on  some  plan 
that  might  enable  him  to  return  with  expedition  ?  If  an 
attempt  is  undertaken,  I  should  conceive  it  ought  to  be 
done  by  way  of  surprise  at  night." 

The  next  day,  minute  instructions  were  given  to 
Wayne  as  to  the  mode  of  attack,  and  on  the  fifteenth  of 
July  a  detachment  was  sent  forward  to  support  him.  In 
order  to  distract  the  attention  of  the  garrison,  and  to  di- 
vide their  resistance,  the  troops  marched  at  midnight  in 
two  columns,  one  upon  each  flank  of  the  fort.  It  was 
erected  upon  a  rugged  acclivity,  which  projected  into  the 
Hudson,  its  base,  except  a  small  part,  surrounded  by 
water.  This  part  was  a  marsh,  with  the  narrow  sandy 
beach  above  referred  to. 

These  columns  succeeded  in  crossing  the  marsh,  and 
a  few  minutes  after  midnight  the  assault  began.  The  first 
knowledge  of  the  approach  was  an  attack  of  the  pickets. 
The  alarm  thus  given,  a  heavy  fire  of  cannon  and  mus- 
ketry followed.  The  undaunted  assailants  pushed  on,  en- 
tered the  works  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  without  dis- 
charging a  shot,  and  captured  the  fort.  Colonel  Fleury, 
a  young,  titled  soldier  of  France,  endeared  to  the  army, 
was  the  first  to  enter  and  strike  the  British  standard. 
With  two  others  of  his  forlorn  party  he  survived.  Wayne, 
whose  impetuous  spirit  had  given  him  the  name  of  "  Mad 


550  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1779. 

Anthony,"  received  a  wound  in  his  head.  Supposing  it 
to  be  fatal,  he  entreated  his  aids  to  convey  him  to  the 
fort  there  to  die,  but  the  wound  proved  slight.  The  gal- 
lantry of  the  attack  was  not  less  than  the  forbearance 
of  the  victors.  Wayne  wrote,  "The  humanity  of  our 
brave  soldiery,  who  scorned  to  take  the  lives  of  a  van- 
quished foe  when  calling  for  mercy,  reflects  the  highest 
honor  on  them,  and  accounts  for  the  few  of  the  enemy 
killed.  They  were  only  sixty-three  of  a  garrison  of  six 
hundred  men.  The  loss  of  the  Americans  in  killed  and 
wounded  did  not  exceed  an  hundred."  * 

Fleury  requested  that  the  flag  he  had  captured  might 
be  given  to  him.  Congress  declined,  averse  to  part 
"with  so  high  a  testimony  of  a  great  and  brilliant  vic- 
tory.'' f 

Soon  after,  Hamilton  had  the  pleasure,  in  the  name  ol 
Washington,  of  commending  him  to  the  interest  of  the 
French  envoy  in  terms  of  deserved  encomium.J  It  was 
a  part  of  the  plan  to  capture  the  opposite  fortress,  called 
La  Fayette,  but  the  orders  were  not  executed  in  time. 
Sir  Henry  Clinton  advanced  to  cover  the  work  at  Stony 

*  Marshall,  i.  811,  who  was  in  the  covering  party. 

|-  Henry  Lanrens  to  Hamilton. 

\  Fleury  writes  to  Hamilton  on  the  18th  August,  a  letter  which  shows  the 
condition  of  the  army  :  "  The  officers  of  the  two  first  battalions  of  light  in- 
fantry, which  actually  command,  have  applied  to  me  for  leave  to  run  over 
these  craggy  mountains  barefooted,  and  beg  that  I  would  write  to  head -quar- 
ters to  have  an  order  from  his  Excellency  to  get  a  pare  shoes  for  each.  The 
shoes  they  hint  to  are  at  New  Windsor,  and  their  intention  is  to  pay  for.  Do 
not  be  so  greedy  for  shoes  as  for  my  blanket,  and  think  that  the  most  urgent 
necessity  has  determined  their  application.  They  are  quite  barefooted. 

"  N.  B.  As  his  Excellency  could  form  a  very  advantageous  idea  of  our 
condition  in  shoes,  the  appearance  of  the  officers  who  dined  to-day  at  head- 
quarters and  were  not  quite  without,  I  beg  you  would  observe  to  him,  if  neces- 
sary, that  each  company  has  furnished  a  shoe  for  their  dressing."  Fleury  died  a 
Field  Marshal  of  France. 


^T.  22.]  HAMILTON.  551 

Point,  which,  requiring  too  large  a  detachment  to  hold  it, 
was  evacuated,  and  in  part  demolished.  Having  re-occu- 
pied and  repaired  it,  he  retired  to  New  York  with  his 
principal  force. 

Washington  was,  in  the  mean  time,  providing  with 
great  solicitude  for  the  defence  of  West  Point.  "  The 
movements  of  the  enemy,"  Hamilton  wrote  in  his  name 
to  Putnam,  "  and  the  exigencies  of  the  moment,  must  de- 
cide your  operations,  but  every  probable  case  should  be 
supposed  beforehand,  and  a  line  of  conduct  preconcerted 
for  each." 

Tidings  were  now  received  from  South  Carolina. 
While  Lincoln  was  proceeding  towards  Augusta,  Prevost 
crossed  into  that  State  and  advanced  upon  General  Moul- 
trie  at  the  head  of  a  body  of  militia  and  a  few  continen- 
tal troops.  The  militia  deserted  and  Moultrie  retired. 
Lincoln  was  immediately  urged  to  come  to  his  relief.  At 
first,  not  believing  Charleston  in  danger,  he  resolved,  in 
the  absence  of  the  enemy,  to  take  possession  of  Savan- 
nah ;  and  with  this  view  moved  down  the  south  side  of 
that  river.  Prevost,  assured  of  the  easy  capture  of 
Charleston,  proceeded  on  his  march,  but,  from  what 
motive  is  not  known,  suddenly  halted.  The  militia  of 
South  Carolina  hastened  to  their  capital.  Reinforcements 
from  Lincoln  arrived,  together  with  the  remains  of  Pu- 
laski's  legion.  Fortifications  were  rapidly  thrown  up, 
and  a  determined  purpose  was  shown  to  make  a  resolute 
defence.  Prevost  advanced,  crossed  the  Ashley,  en- 
camped, and  summoned  a  surrender.  The  terms  were 
disputed  and  rejected.  The  town  prepared  for  an  as- 
sault, when,  seeing  no  alternative  but  to  venture  carrying 
it  by  storm,  Prevost  recrossed  the  Ashley  and  took  posses- 
sion of  the  Islands  St.  James  and  St.  John,  on  the  south 
of  the  harbor.  Lincoln  made  a  rapid  march  for  their 


552  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1779 

relief,  and  encamped  so  near  the  enemy  as  to  confine 
them  to  the  former  island,  which  was  separated  from  the 
main  land  by  the  Stono.  Prevost  saw  the  necessity  of  a 
retreat,  and  while  preparing  to  change  his  position,  Lin- 
coln attacked  a  detachment  on  the  Stono  with  a  thousand 
men,  but,  it  being  largely  reinforced,  Prevost  retreated 
unmolested  to  his  previous  encampment.  Owing  to  the 
great  heats  on  the  sea-board,  both  armies  retired.  The 
British  first — to  Georgia  and  Florida — Lincoln  to  the 
interior  of  South  Carolina.  Receiving  intelligence  of 
these  events,  Hamilton,  over  the  signature  of  Washing- 
ton, addressed  Lincoln  on  the  thirteenth  of  July  :  "  I  am 
sorry  to  hear  that  Colonel  Laurens  received  a  wound  so 
soon  after  his  arrival  with  you,  as  it  prevented  his  follow- 
ing the  dictates  of  his  zeal,  and  rendering  the  service  for 
which  he  is  qualified,  at  a  moment  very  interesting  to  his 
country  and  to  his  own  feelings.  But  1  am  happy  to 
hear  that  it  was  slight,  and  that  it  will  not  be  long  an 
obstacle  to  his  wishes.  I  sincerely  sympathize  with  you, 
my  dear  sir,  in  the  disagreeable  aspect  of  our  affairs  to 
the  southward,  and  in  the  embarrassments  to  which  your 
situation  must  necessarily  expose  you.  Had  it  been 
possible  to  have  afforded  you  any  succors  from  the  army 
under  my  command,  you  may  be  assured  that  public  and 
private  motives  would  have  equally  induced  me  to  do  it. 
But  you  are  not  unacquainted  with  the  insufficiency  of 
our  means  every  where,  and  the  States  in  general  seem 
to  have  been  for  some  time  past  in  a  profound  sleep 
They  have  been  amusing  themselves  with  idle  dreams  of 
peace,  and  have  scarcely  made  any  exertions  for  the  war. 
"Till  within  a  fortnight  this  army  had  scarcely  re- 
ceived a  single  recruit,  though  a  large  part  of  it  dissolved 
in  the  course  of  the  last  winter  and  spring,  by  the  ex 
piration  of  the  term  of  service  for  which  the  men  were 


^T.  22.]  HAMILTON.  553 

engaged.  We  have  now  the  prospect  of  a  thousand  or 
fifteen  hundred  levies,  at  enormous  bounties,  for  nine 
months,  from  the  States  of  Massachusetts  and  Connecti- 
cut, which  make  up  our  whole  expectations  of  reinforce- 
ments. Inferior  in  strength  to  the  enemy,  we  have  been 
able  to  do  little  more  than  to  take  care  of  ourselves,  and 
guard  the  communication  of  this  river,  which  is  supposed 
to  be  the  main  object  of  Sir  Henry  Clinton's  operations ; 
and  is  certainly  the  point  in  which  we  are  most  essentially 
vulnerable.  The  enemy  have  as  yet  received  no  rein- 
forcements this  campaign.  Lord  Cornwallis  is  lately  ar- 
rived from  England  ;  and,  it  is  said,  a  fleet  with  seven 
thousand  men  sailed  a  few  days  before  him.  But  for  this 
I  have  no  sufficient  authority,  and  our  European  advices 
have  been  so  parsimonious  and  vague  that  I  cannot  ven- 
ture to  hazard  an  opinion.  Our  army  is  principally  at 
this  post  for  its  immediate  security,  and  to  prosecute  with 
vigor  the  works  necessary  to  put  it  in  such  a  state  of  de- 
fence as  will  give  it  security  with  its  own  garrison,  and 
leave  the  rest  of  the  army  at  liberty  to  operate  with  con- 
fidence' elsewhere." 

The  successful  storm  of  Stony  Point  inflamed  the  im- 
agination of  the  younger  officers  of  the  army.  The  gal- 
lant Henry  Lee  now  proposed  a  plan  for  the  capture  of  a 
British  post  at  Paulus  Hook,  opposite  New  York.  Hamil- 
ton wrote  him,  in  behalf  of  Washington,  "  The  plan  you 
propose  for  the  attack  and  making  good  the  retreat  is 
well  concerted,  and  such  as  would  be  most  likely  to  suc- 
ceed, if  the  enterprise  were  to  be  carried  into  execution. 
But  upon  the  whole,  in  the  present  position  of  the  enemy's 
army,  I  should  deem  the  attempt  too  hazardous,  and  not 
warranted  by  the  magnitude  of  the  object."  In  this  view 
he  preferred  to  suspend  it,  and  suggested  a  procedure  he 
deemed  less  precarious.  Lee  represented  the  practica- 


554  THE   REPUBLIC. 

bility  of  a  surprise  with  a  smaller  force,  upon  which 
Hamilton  wrote  to  Stirling,  in  Washington's  name,  au- 
thorizing the  attempt  upon  two  conditions — that  not  more 
than  four  hundred  men  be  employed, — and  that  a  retreat 
by  a  designated  route  be  made  practicable.  Cautions  as 
to  secrecy  and  the  security  of  the  party  were  given.  The 
attempt  proved  successful.  Lee  took  the  main  work  o. 
the  enemy  by  surprise  at  three  in  the  morning  of  the 
nineteenth  of  August,  and  with  the  trifling  loss  of  two 
men  killed  and  three  wounded,  captured  three  officers  and 
one  hundred  and  fifty  privates.  He  returned  in  safety, 
and  received  the  thanks  of  the  commander-in-chief  and 
of  Congress. 

These  successes  kept  up  the  spirits  of  the  army  and 
checked  the  confidence  of  the  enemy. 

This  command  being  given  to  Lee,  caused  not  a  little 
dissatisfaction  among  the  Virginia  light  infantry,  who  ob- 
jected to  the  employment  of  a  cavalry  officer,  as  a  viola- 
tion of  their  rights.  Letters  were  addressed  to  Washing- 
ton, staling  the  grounds  of  their  complaints,  by  Stirling, 
Woodford  and  Mughlenburgh.  A  reply  to  the  former, 
written  by  Hamilton  in  Washington's  name,  discusses  the 
matter  at  much  length,  and  vindicates  the  right  of  selec- 
tion on  principle  and  the  usage  of  other  nations  in  cases 
"of  detachments  for  particular  enterprises  out  of  the 
common  course  of  service."  The  idea  of  a  preference  in 
favor  of  Lee  was  expressly  disclaimed. 

Another  question  of  much  importance  in  reference  to 
the  officer  concerned,  was  at  this  time  presented.  Gen- 
eral Greene  claimed,  that  holding  his  rank  in  the  line 
when  appointed  quartermaster-general,  entitled  him  to  an 
equivalent  command.  Hamilton,  in  behalf  of  Washing- 
ton, wrote  to  him  :  "  It  was  not,  in  my  opinion,  under- 
stood that  you  were  to  maintain  an  actual  permanent 


;£T.  22.]  HAMILTON.  555 

command.  My  idea  was,  that  you  were  to  stand  precisely 
upon  the  same  footing  in  proportion  to  your  rank,  with  quar- 
termaster-generals in  other  services,  who,  from  the  best 
information  I  am  able  to  obtain,  do  not  usually  exercise  a 
regular  lineal  command,  but  are  eligible  by  the  officer  at 
the  head  of  the  army,  to  occasional  commands,  either  in 
detachment  or  in  the  line,  when,  in  his  opinion,  it  is  for  the 
good  of  the  service  to  employ  them  in  this  manner,  and 
it  does  not  interfere  with  the  duties  of  the  department,  or 
with  the  particular  and  proper  command  of  other  officers. 
Upon  this  principle,  you  were  appointed  to  the  right  wing 
in  the  affair  of  Monmouth,  and  were  sent  to  take  a  com- 
mand under  General  Sullivan  ;  and  both,  as  far  as  I  have 
ever  heard,  were  agreeable  to  the  general  sense  of  the 
army."  The  letter  closed  in  terms  of  warm  commenda- 
tion of  his  conduct,  both  in  the  civil  staff  and  line  of  the 
arrny. 

During  the  conferences  of  the  preceding  winter  at 
Philadelphia,  Colonel  Hamilton  had  formed  a  particular 
acquaintance  with  Duane,  one  of  the  committee  appointed 
by  Congress  to  confer  with  the  commander-in-chief,  an 
able  and  upright  man,  of  "  a  gay  and  open  character."  * 

Letters  passed  between  them.  In  one,  dated  a  few 
days  after  Lee's  exploit,  Hamilton  informed  him  of  the 
arrival  of  a  large  British  fleet  under  Arbuthnot,  and  that 
Admiral  Collier  had  appeared  in  the  Penobscot,  "put  our 
grand  fleet  to  rout — which  were  run  ashore,  abandoned 
and  burned, — the  troops  and  seamen  safe."  In  a  subse- 
quent letter,  he  stated  the  reinforcement  of  the  enemy  at 
three  thousand  troops,  and  an  impression  that  they  were 
about  to  repair  to  the  West  Indies.  "  The  reduction  of 
the  enemy's  fleets  and  armies  in  this  country,"  he  wrote, 
"  would  be  the  surest  method  to  effect  the  complete  con- 

*  Chastcllux,  i.  219. 


556  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1779 

quest  of  the  islands,  and  it  would  be  one  of  the  most  fatal 
strokes  Great  Britain  could  receive.  The  stamina  of  their 
military  establishment  are  in  this  country.  The  ruin  of 
this,  and  the  capture  of  their  seamen  and  ships,  would  be 
an  irrecoverable  loss.  The  West  Indies  would  scarcely 
have  any  further  prospect  of  succor,  and  would  be  obliged 
to  submit  to  the  power  of  France,  almost  without  resist- 
ance ;  which  might  then  operate  at  leisure,  aided  by  am- 
ple supplies  from  this  continent,  which,  I  believe,  are  the 
principal  thing  wanting.  These  reasons  may  have  in- 
duced the  Count  to  make  us  a  visit  during  the  season  of 
inactivity  in  the  West  Indies." 

Intelligence  of  D'Estaing's  approach  being  received, 
Hamilton,  in  the  name  of  Washington,  addressed  him  a 
letter  on  the  thirteenth  of  September.  "  The  British  land 
force  at  New  York  and  its  vicinity,"  he  stated,  "  was  near 
fifteen  thousand  men— and  at  Rhode  Island  between  three 
and  four  thousand — their  naval  force  one  seventy-four, 
one  sixty-four,  and  two  or  three  frigates,  with  a  few  small 
armed  vessels.  It  was  proposed,  he  should  enter  the 
harbor  of  New  York  immediately,  run  a  few  frigates  up 
the  Hudson,  when  a  body  of  troops  would  be  pushed 
down  to  intercept  a  retreat  of  the  force  at  King's  Ferry. 
A  convenient  station  for  some  vessels  on  the  Sound  was 
also  advised,  to  hinder  the  evacuation  of  Rhode  Island, 
and  a  junction  of  their  forces."  Lee  was  despatched  with 
this  letter  to  the  seaboard  of  New  Jersey  to  await  the 
approach  of  the  French  fleet,  and  a  disposition  of  the 
army  was  begun  in  order  to  carry  these  purposes  into 
effect. 

The  arrival  of  La  Luzerne,  the  successor  of  Gerard, 
was  at  this  time  communicated  to  Hamilton  by  Steuben : 
"  M.  de  la  Luzerne  desires  me  to  join  him  on  his  route  to 
accompany  him  to  head-quarters.  He  is  about  thirty-six 


HAMILTON.  557 

years  of  age,  though  he  appears  younger.  In  the  last 
war  he  was  aide-de-camp  to  Marshal  Broglio.  He  ap- 
pears to  be  a  man  of  solid  sense,  and  less  presumptuous 
than  the  people  of  quality  of  that  country  usually  are. 
His  manners  are  prepossessing,  and  they  would  be  more 
so  if  he  could  speak  English.  His  character  appears  to 
me  good,  and  he  is  less  reserved  than  European  ministers 
usually  are.  He  is  a  young  chevalier  of  Malta,  who  is 
not  so  much  embrowned  by  his  crusades,  but  that  the 
American  beauties  will  take  pains  to  teach  him  English  in 
a  short  time.  His  secretary,  M.  de  Marbois,  is  a  counsel- 
lor of  parliament  from  Metz  in  Lorraine,  speaks  good 
English,  and  is  a  man  who  shows  much  information  and 
judgment."  "The  General,"  Hamilton  answered,  "re- 
quests you  will  make  his  respectful  compliments  to  your 
chevalier,  and  gives  you  carte  blanche  to  say  every  hand- 
some thing  you  think  proper  in  his  name,  of  the  pleasure 
which  this  visit  will  give  him.  I  have  no  doubt  that  your 
portrait,  which  is  executed  en  maitre,  will  be  found  a  just 
representation  of  the  original ;  and  if  he  is  as  happy  as  his 
predecessor  in  gaining  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  the 
men  of  this  country,  with  so  many  talents  to  conciliate 
the  leaders,  his  ministry  will  not  be  unsuccessful.  I  augur 
well  for  him.  General  Washington  proposes  to  meet  him 
as  a  private  gentleman,  at  Fishkill." 

On  the  sixteenth  of  September  a  conference  took 
place  at  West  Point.  From  a  minute  in  Hamilton's  hand, 
who  was  present,  it  appears  that  the  views  presented  in 
the  recent  letter  to  D'Estaing  were  repeated  by  Washing- 
ton, and  that  he  was  apprised  of  a  contemplated  expedition 
by  Spain,  who  had  entered  reluctantly  into  the  war,  against 
the  Floridas.  A  co-operation  of  the  American  forces  was 
suggested,  from  the  motive  of  confirming  her  good  disposi- 
tions, and  inducing  her  not  only  to  conclude  a  treaty  with 


558  THE  KE PUBLIC.  [1779. 

the  United  States,  but  perhaps  to  assist  them  with  a  loan  of 
money.  This  matter  was  considered  in  different  aspects, 
Washington  approving  the  co-operation.  The  conquest  of 
Canada  was  also  taken  into  view.  The  letter  written  for 
Washington  by  Hamilton  in  relation  to  it,  had  been  pub- 
lished in  France,  and  was  approved  by  the  best  military 
judges.  He  was  informed,  that  the  king  of  France  had  a 
sincere  and  disinterested  desire  to  see  Canada  and  Nova 
Scotia  annexed  to  the  American  confederation,  and  would 
be  disposed  to  promote  a  plan  for  this  purpose,  but  that  he 
would  undertake  nothing  of  the  kind,  unless  the  plan  was 
previously  approved  and  digested  by  the  general.  Wash- 
ington stated,  whenever  the  enemy's  force  should  be  re- 
moved from  the  United  States,  "  he  doubted  not  it  would 
be  a  leading  object  to  wrest  those  provinces  from  the 
power  of  Britain,"  and  he  was  of  opinion  that,  "  though 
we  should  have  land  force  enough  for  the  undertaking, 
without  in  this  respect  intruding  upon  the  generosity  of 
our  allies,  a  naval  co-operation  would  certainly  be  very 
useful  and  necessary."  Observations  were  interspersed 
on  the  importance  of  removing  the  enemy  from  the  United 
States,  to  facilitate  the  operations  of  France  in  the  West 
Indies,  and  "  to  dispossess  the  enemy  of  their  dominions  on 
the  continent." 

This  conference  prompted  a  letter,  which  was  written 
by  Hamilton  for  Washington  to  General  Lincoln,  approv- 
ing in  warm  terms  his  conduct  near  Charleston.  The 
want  of  support  from  Virginia  had  been  a  source  of  pain 
to  Washington  and  of  dissatisfaction  in  Carolina.  Patrick 
Henry,  then  its  governor,  wrote  the  previous  year  to  a 
leading  delegate  in  Congress:*  "Public  spirit  seems  to 
have  taken  its  flight  from  Virginia.  It  is  too  much  the 
case ;  for  the  quota  of  our  troops  is  not  half  made  up, 

*  Memoir  of  Richard  Henry  Lee,  i.  195,  1778. 


2ET.  22.]  HAMILTON.  •   559 

and  no  chance  seems  to  remain  for  completing  it.  Great 
bounties  are  offered,  but,  I  fear,  the  only  effect  will  be  to 
expose  our  State  to  contempt,  for,  I  believe,  no  soldiers 
will  enlist,  especially  in  the  infantry.  Can  you  credit  it  ? 
no  effort  was  made  for  supporting  or  restoring  public 
credit !  I  pressed  it  warmly  on  some,  but  in  vain.  This 
is  the  reason  you  get  no  soldiers.  Let  not  Congress  rely 
upon  Virginia  for  soldiers.  I  tell  you  my  opinion,  they 
will  not  be  got  here  until  a  different  spirit  prevails."  "  I 
mean,"  Washington  wrote  soon  after  f  by  Hamilton,  "  to 
enclose  him  "  (Henry)  "  a  state  of  the  Virginia  troops  as 
soon  as  I  can  obtain  proper  returns,  that  the  Slate  may 
adopt  some  speedy  and  vigorous  measures  for  making  their 
numbers  more  respectable.  At  present  they  are  but  a 
handful,  compared  to  the  quota  that  they  should  furnish, 
and  unless  something  is  done,  this  handful  will  dwindle  to 
nothing." 

A  year  had  now  elapsed,  and  the  same  apathy  and  in- 
ertness on  the  part  of  that  State  are  seen.  "  I  am  cha- 
grined," it  was  observed  to  Lincoln  by  Washington,  "  at 
the  delays  which  the  intended  succors  from  Virginia  have 
met  with,  the  more  as  by  my  last  accounts  they  con- 
tinued. I  hope,  however,  they  may  still  arrive  in  time  to 
be  useful,  and  that  you  may  not  be  disappointed  in  your 
other  expectations."  "  Southern  operations  appear  to 
have  been  for  some  time  past  a  favorite  object  in  the  Brit- 
ish cabinet.  The  weakness  of  these  States  affords  a 
strong  temptation.  The  advantages  are  important  and 
inviting ;  and  even  the  desperate  aspect  of  their  affairs 
itself  may  inspire  a  spirit  of  enterprise,  and  teach  the  ne- 
cessity of  some  bold  stroke  to  counterbalance  their  mis- 
fortunes and  disgraces,  and  restore  their  reputation  and 
influence."  The  expected  arrival  of  D'Estaing  was  men- 
*  Sept.  3,  1778. 


560'  THE   KEPUBLIC.  [1779. 

tioned,  and  Lincoln  was  urged  to  "  make  every  exertion 
in  his  power  to  be  prepared  for  the  worst."  * 

The  Governors  of  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey,  New 
York,  Connecticut  and  Massachusetts  were  now  called  on, 
positive  advices  being  received  of  D'Estaing's  approach, 
to  prepare  a  militia  force  to  act  in  conjunction  with  the 
continental  troops  in  any  operation  that  might  take  place. 
Pilots  were  also  sought  to  guide  the  French  fleet  into  New 
York. 

On  the  seventh  of  October,  a  letter  was  wi.tten  to 
D'Estaing  by  Hamilton,  over  Washington's  signature : 
"  Since  my  last  letter  to  your  excellency  on  the  fourth 
instant,  I  have  had  the  honor  of  a  visit  from  his  excel- 
lency, Monsieur  Gerard.  In  the  conversation  we  had  rel- 
ative to  a  co-operation  with  the  fleet  and  troops  under 
your  command,  he  expressed  his  doubts  of  its  being  possi- 
ble for  you  to  continue  such  a  length  of  time  as  may  be 
essential  to  the  success  of  the  undertaking,  and  which 
alone  could  justify  me  in  going  into  those  extensive  prepa 
rations  absolutely  necessary  on  our  part.  I  have,  there 
fore,  appointed  Brigadier-general  Du  Portail  and  Colonel 
Hamilton  to  wait  upon  your  excellency  as  speedily  as 
possible,  and  explain  to  you  fully  my  ideas  of  the  pro- 
posed co-operation ;  the  means  we  shall  be  able  to  em 
ploy ;  the  obstacles  we  shall  have  to  encounter  on  our 
side  ;  the  plans  which  it  may  be  proper  to  pursue,  and  the 
measures  which  are  taking,  and  may  be  taken  by  the  ene- 
my to  counteract  them.  This  will  enable  your  excellency 
to  determine  what  you  can  with  propriety  undertake.  I 
shall  only  add,  that  if  your  excellency  will  engage  to  co- 
operate with  your  whole  naval  and  land  force  against  the 
enemy's  fleet  and  army  at  New  York,  till  the  winter  is  so 
far  advanced,  that  the  ice  will  make  it  impracticable  to 

*  Hamilton  for  Washington,  to  Lincoln,  Sept,  28,  1779. 


MT.  22.]  HAMILTON.  561 

remain  with  your  fleet  any  longer  in  port,  I  will  bring 
twenty-five  thousand  effective  men  into  the  field,  and  will 
exert  all  the  resources  of  the  country  in  a  vigorous  and 
decided  co-operation. 

"  Without  this  assurance  on  the  part  of  your  excel- 
lency, it  would  be  inconsistent  with  my  duty  to  the  pub- 
lic, and  to  the  common  cause,  to  incur  the  expense  and 
hazard  which  would  be  inseparable  from  the  enterprise, 
and  the  more  disagreeable,  consequences  which  would  at- 
tend a  failure.  I  flatter  myself  your  excellency  will  be 
fully  sensible  of  the  weight  of  the  reasons  on  which  this 
declaration  is  founded,  and  will  approve  the  frankness  with 
which  it  is  made,  and  with  which  I  have  instructed  Gen- 
eral Du  Portail  and  Colonel  Hamilton  to  disclose  to  you 
every  circumstance,  and  every  consideration,  with  which 
it  is  necessary  you  should  be  acquainted.  If  your  deter- 
mination should  be  in  favor  of  the  enterprise,  I  request 
you  will  honor  me  with  a  line  expressive  of  your  ultimate 
intentions,  and  that  you  will  communicate  to  the  gentle- 
men who  now  wait  upon  you,  the  previous  measures  you 
propose  to  pursue,  and  your  sentiments  of  the  most  eligi- 
ble plan  of  co-operation.  I  shall  act,  in  consequence,  till 
the  period  arrives  for  concerting  a  final  and  more  deter- 
minate plan. 

"  I  would  now  observe  to  your  excellency,  that  you 
may  repose  the  most  implicit  confidence  in  General  Du 
Portail  and  Colonel  Hamilton,  and  I  accordingly  recom- 
mend them  to  your  best  civilities  and  esteem  ;  and  having 
done  so,  I  have  only  to  renew  the  assurances  of  that  sin- 
cere attachment  and  perfect  respect,  with  wfrch  I  have 
the  honor  to  be." 

The  utmost  interest  was,  at  this  moment,  awakened 
throughout  the  country.  An  interesting  crisis  was  ex- 
pected ;  and  a  long  correspondence  between  Washington 
VOL.  I.— 36 


562  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1779. 

and  Hamilton  ensued,  as  the  various  intelligence  was  re- 
ceived, which  would  probably  affect  the  intended  enter- 
prise. These  letters  fully  disclose  the  anxiety  of  the 
commander-in-chief,  to  meet,  by  a  decisive  blow,  the  high- 
wrought  expectations  of  the  people.  The  enemy  were,  at 
this  time,  filled  with  dismay.  The  fortifications  at  New 
York  were  carried  on  with  the  utmost  activity  ;  the  gar- 
risons were  withdrawn  from  the  posts  on  the  Hudson ; 
and  the  troops  stationed  at  Newport,  whom  Washington 
had  urged  should  be  surprised,  were  finally  transferred 
to  New  York. 

To  gratify  Spain,  the  French  councils  wished  the 
military  operations  should  be  directed  to  the  Southern 
States.  Urgent  letters  were  addressed  to  D'Estaing  from 
Charleston.  He  was  told,  his  appearance  on  that  coast 
would  ensure  the  liberation  of  Georgia.  Savannah  was 
still  in  possession  of  Prevost.  Lincoln's  army  was  within 
a  few  days'  march.  A  junction  was  concerted  between 
him  and  the  troops  on  board  the  French  fleet.  The  British 
detachments  were  now  called  in.  Lincoln  arrived.  The 
town  was  invested,  and  its  fall  in  a  short  time  was  inevita- 
ble. But  D'Estaing  was  unwilling  to  remain  longer  upon 
the  coast,  fearing  the  weather,  and  anxious  for  the  safety 
of  the  French  West  Indies.  The  only  alternatives  were 
to  take  it  by  storm,  or  to  retire.  The  former  was  re- 
solved, and  the  ninth  of  October,  before  day,  an  assault 
took  place.  The  contest  on  both  sides  was  obstinate  and 
bloody.  Both  the  French  and  Americans  planted  their 
standards  on  the  walls,  and  endeavored  to  force  the  works. 
A  gallant  sortie  was  made,  and  the  assailants  were  driven 
back.  The  French  in  killed  and  wounded  lost  seven 
hundred  men.  Pulaski  was  of  the  killed,  D'Estaing 
among  the  wounded.  The  American  loss  was  two  hun- 
dred and  forty.  The  British  only  fifty-five.  D'Estaing  now 


^ET.  22.]  HAMILTON.  553 

resolved,  in  despite  of  Lincoln's  remonstrances,  to  raise 
the  siege.  Lincoln  returned  within  the  borders  of  South 
Carolina.  D'Estaing  re-embarked,  and  left  the  American 
coast.  Soon  after,  dispersed  by  a  tempest,  part  of  his  fleet 
proceeded  to  the  West  Indies,  the  residue  to  France. 

Weary  of  inactivity,  convinced  that  the  active  opera- 
lions  of  the  war  would  be  in  the  Southern  States,  and 
wishing  an  opportunity  of  military  distinction  in  a  separate 
command,  Hamilton  had  applied  for  permission  to  proceed 
to  the  south.  The  proposal  did  not  meet  the  views  of 
the  commander-in-chief,  and  the  purpose  was  relinquished. 

He  was  now  led  to  hope  an  appointment  in  the  mission 
to  France,  the  more  an  object  of  desire,  from  his  wish  .to 
promote  the  important  measure  of  the  introduction  of  a 
French  army  into  the  United  States  which  he  had  sug- 
gested.* Laurens,  on  the  termination  of  the  Southern 

*  In  a  memoir  of  Colonel  Fish,  of  date  March  twenty-first,  1822,  it  is  sta- 
ted, "  In  one  of  our  confidential  conversations,  Hamilton,  speaking  of  the  Mar- 
quis La  Fayette,  said,  '  The  United  States  are  under  infinite  obligations  to  him 
beyond  what  is  known,  not  only  for  his  valour  and  good  conduct  as  major- 
general  of  our  army,  but  for  his  good  offices  and  influence  in  our  behalf  with 
the  court  of  France.  The  French  army  now  here,  co-operating  with  us,  would 
not  have  been  in  this  country  but  through  his  means.'  He  than  said,  that  for 
some  considerable  time  previous  to  the  arrival  of  the  French  army  under 
Count  Rochambeau,  he  (Colonel  Hamilton)  had  conceived  the  idea  and  had 
weighed  in  his  own  mind  the  propriety  of  such  a  measure,  and  having  satisfied 
himself  on  the  subject,  he  had  suggested  the  idea  to  the  Marquis  La  Fayette,  ex- 
pressing to  him  at  the  same  time,  not  only  the  powerful  effect  that  would  be 
produced  in  our  army  and  country  generally  by  the  introduction  of  a  small 
military  force  from  France  to  co-operate  with  us,  but  the  increased  effect  that 
would  result  should  the  Marquis  himself  be  appointed  to  the  command.  This 
project  met  a  welcome  reception,  and  after  some  explanatory  remarks  as  to 
the  details  of  the  plan,  the  Marquis,  with  all  the  zeal  and  promptitude  which 
characterized  him,  addressed  the  French  government  and  their  ambassador 
here  on  the  subject,  urging  the  advantages  which  would  result  to  both  nations 
from  having  a  French  military  force  in  this  country.  This  proposition  was 
immediately  patronized  and  enforced  by  the  family  and  canneetions  of  the  Mar- 


564  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1779. 

campaign,  decided  to  repair  to  head-quarters.  On  his 
way  he  stopped  at  Philadelphia  where  Congress  was  in 
session.  From  this  place,  on  the  eighteenth  of  Decem- 
ber, he  wrote  to  Hamilton : 

"  On  my  arrival  in  town,  I  was  informed  by  the  Presi- 
dent, that  Congress  had  suspended  the  business  of  ap- 
pointing a  secretary  to  their  minister  plenipotentiary  at 
Versailles  until  my  return,  in  hopes  that  I  might  still  be 
prevailed  upon  to  accept  the  office.  I  replied,  that  I 
thought  my  letter  upon  the  subject  sufficiently  explicit, 
and  assured  him  of  my  sincere  desire  to  be  excused  from 
serving  in  that  capacity  at  the  present  juncture  of  our 
affairs. 

"  He  urged  the  unanimity  of  the  choice  with  respect  to 
me — the  difficulty  of  uniting  the  suffrages  of  all  parties, 
in  case  of  a  new  nomination,  and  the  advantages  of  this 
union.  Several  delegates  of  Congress  declared  to  me  the 
embarrassment  of  Congress  since  I  had  declined.  One, 
in  particular,  suggested  to  me  his  apprehension  of  interest 
being  made  for  a  late  delegate  of  New  York,  who  is  can- 
didate for  the  office,  and  to  whom  the  world  in  general 
allows  greater  credit  for  his  abilities  than  his  integrity ; 
and  said,  '  he  was  determined  to  oppose  him  with  all  his 
influence.'  When  I  quitted  town,  the  sixteenth,  these 
matters  crowded  into  my  mind.  I  fell  into  a  train  of 
serious  reflections  and  self-examination,— endeavored  to 
investigate  whether  I  had  acted  consonantly  to  the  /caXov 
K<U  aya0ov  and  fulfilled  the  duties  of  a  good  citizen  in  the 
transaction.  In  fine,  I  agitated  the  grand  question, 
whether  a  citizen  has  a  right  to  decline  any  office  to  which 

quis,  which  irere  then  in  power  and  great  influence  in  France,  and  adopted  by 
that  government.  I  deem  it  a  dnty  incumbent  on  me,  and  a  tribute  due  to  his 
memory,  that  the  knowledge  of  this  fact  should  be  recorded  as  an  additional 
evidence  of  his  pre-eminent  services  to  this  country." 


Mf.  22.]  HAMILTON.  565 

his  countrymen  appoint  him ;  upon  what  that  right  is 
founded,  and  whether  it  existed  in  my  case. 

"  After  undergoing  the  severest  conflict  I  ever  expe- 
rienced, sometimes  reproaching,  sometimes  justifying  my- 
self, pursuing  my  journey,  or  turning  retrograde,  as  the 
arguments  on  the  one  side  or  the  other  appeared  to  pre- 
vail, I  determined  that  I  had  been  deficient  in  the  duties 
of  a  good  citizen.  I  returned  to  Philadelphia,  communi- 
cated my  sentiments  to  the  President  and  two  other  mem- 
bers, ;  declared  to  them  that  I  thought  it  incumbent  on 
me,  in  the  first  place,  to  recommend  a  person  equally 
qualified  in  point  of  integrity,  and  much  better  in  point  of 
ability.  That  if,  unhappily,  they  could  not  agree  on  Col- 
onel Hamilton,  and  that  I  was  absolutely  necessary  to  ex- 
clude a  dangerous  person,  or  to  prevent  pernicious  delays, 
I  should  think  it  my  duty  to  obey  the  orders  of  Congress. 
The  persons  now  in  nomination,  are,  Colonel  Hamilton, 
Mr.  Lovell,  Mr.  G.  Morris,  Major  Stewart.  Great  stress 
is  laid  upon  the  ability  and  integrity  of  the  person  to  be 
employed  in  this  commission.  I  have  given  my  testimony 
of  you  in  this  and  the  other  equally  essential  points.  My 
love,  as  usual.  Adieu." 

Relieved  of  all  apprehension  from  the  French  troops, 
it  was  supposed  that  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  with  his  superior 
force  might  strike  a  blow  at  the  main  army.  Washington 
immediately  took  precautionary  measures,  and  represented 
his  weak  condition  to  Congress,  showing  that  his  total 
force  engaged  for  the  war  was  about  fifteen  thousand  men, 
and  that  the  terms  of  enlistment  of  the  rest  would  expire 
within  ten  months.  To  supply  the  requisite  numbers,  a 
system  of  annual  drafts  was  proposed,  voluntary  enlist- 
ments having  ceased. 

The  letters  written  in  his  behalf  by  Hamilton  are 
most  gloomy,  chiefly  referring  to  the  depreciation  of  the 


THE   KEPUBLIC.  [1779. 

currency.  "  The  enemy,"  he  states  in  November,  "  have 
great  hopes  of  terminating  the  war  in  their  favor  in  an- 
other campaign,  as  they  expect  confidently  the  entire  ruin 
of  our  money,  and  a  failure  of  provisions  for  the  supply 
of  the  army."  "  I  find  our  prospects,"  he  writes  in  Decem- 
ber from  Morristown,  "are  infinitely  worse  than  they 
have  been  at  any  period  of  the  war,  and  unless  some  ex- 
pedient can  be  instantly  adopted,  a  dissolution  of  the 
army  for  want  of  subsistence  is  unavoidable.  A  part  of 
it  has  been,  again,  several  days  without  bread,  and  for  the 
rest,  we  have  not,  either  on  the  spot  or  within  reach,  a 
supply  sufficient  for  four  days.  Nor  does  this  deficiency 
proceed  from  accidental  circumstances,  as  has  been  the 
case  on  former  occasions,  but  from  the  absolute  emptiness 
of  our  magazines  every  where,  and  the  total  want  of 
money  or  credit  to  replenish  them.  We  have  never  expe- 
rienced a  like  extremity  at  any  period  of  the  war."  As 
the  only  resource,  he  proposed  "to  solicit  a  loan  of  four 
or  five  thousand  barrels  of  flour,  provided  by  France  for 
the  use  of  her  fleet." 

A  recent  report  of  the  board  of  treasury  gave  a  fearful 
exhibition.  By  this  it  appeared,  that  the  bills  in  circulation 
amounted  to  the  enormous  sum  of  one  hundred  and  sixty 
millions  of  dollars  that  the  public  debt  was  forty  millions, 
nearly  three-fourths  from  domestic  sources ;  and  the  total 
product  of  the  taxes,  since  the  commencement  of  the  war, 
only  three  millions !  Still  more  to  shake  the  public  confi- 
dence, Washington  was  informed,  that  the  enemy  had  pro- 
cured from  Philadelphia  paper  made  for  the  last  emissions 
struck  by  Congress,  in  order  to  issue  a  spurious  currency. 

With  the  faint  hope  of  sustaining  their  credit,  Con- 
gress passed  a  vote,  pledging  themselves  not  to  issue,  in 
bills  of  credit,  a  sum  exceeding  two  hundred  millions  • 
which  they  proclaimed  to  the  country,  accompanied  willi 


^ET.  22.]  HAMILTON.  5^7 

an  exposition  of  the  extent  of  the  national  resources,  and 
an  assurance  that  full  confidence  might  be  placed  in  the 
public  faith.  The  wants  of  the  treasury  had  been  so 
pressing,  that  intermediate  this  declaration,  and  the  end 
of  the  following  month  of  November,  the  balance  of  this 
limited  sum  was  issued,  and  Congress  were  left  destitute 
of  this  apparently  last  resource. 

In  this  emergency,  the  committee  of  ways  and  means 
adopted,  as  the  only  remaining  expedient,  the  negotiation 
of  bills  on  the  American  envoys  in  Europe ;  which, 
through  the  recent  advices  of  De  la  Luzerne,  they  had 
reason  to  expect  would  be  provided  for  by  the  aid  of 
France. 

The  sale  of  these  bills  was  directed  to  be  made  at  the 
rate  of  twenty-five  dollars  in  continental  bills  of  credit, 
for  four  shillings  and  sixpence  sterling,  with  the  condition, 
that  the  purchasers  should  lend  a  sum  equal  to  the  cost  of 
the  bills,  at  an  interest  of  six  per  cent. 

The  assurances  given  to  the  new  envoy  from  France, 
of  bringing  into  the  field  an  army  of  twenty-five  thousand 
men,  had  caused  the  greatest  anxiety  in  Congress  to  expe- 
dite the  requisitions  on  the  States.  The  recently  proposed 
change  in  the  currency  was  based  on  their  co-operation. 
And  yet  the  legislatures  of  many  of  them  adjourned 
without  delegating  powers  to  any  members  of  their  gov- 
ernments to  meet  the  propositions  of  Congress,  while  the 
returns  of  others  indicated  a  reluctant  and  tardy  com- 
pliance with  the  urgent  demands  of  the  confederation. 

The  financial  embarrassments  had  given  rise  to  scenes 
of  extravagant,  and,  in  many  instances,  profligate  specu- 
lation. Entering  the  market  with  a  currency  stamped 
with  disgrace,  not  only  was  government  compelled  to 
purchase  below  the  fixed  discount  of  their  paper,  and 
thus  increase  its  discredit,  but  individuals,  whose  resources 


568  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1779. 

created  confidence,  came  forward  as  competitors,  and  en- 
grossed the  supplies,  which  they  dealt  out  to  the  adminis- 
tration on  their  own  terms.  Apprehensions  of  greater 
depreciation,  inducing  the  holders  of  the  paper  to  force  it 
upon  sale,  with  a  view  to  realize  something  intrinsically 
valuable,  raised  the  price  of  every  article ;  while  many 
capitalists,  unable  to  loan  securely,  withheld  their  funds 
from  circulation. 

The  excitement  produced  by  these  circumstances,  can 
now  be  with  difficulty  imagined.  On  the  one  hand,  the 
most  violent  denunciations  were  uttered  against  "  engros- 
sers, forestallers  and  monopolizers,"  on  the  other,  out- 
cries were  raised  against  the  public  agents,  who  frequently 
abused  their  trust ;  an  internal  war  ensued,  between  debt- 
or and  creditor,  threatening  the  most  alarming  conse- 
quences. 

These  were  evils  in  a  great  degree  necessarily  inci- 
dental to  the  state  of  the  country,  with  a  small  capital, 
and  deprived  of  foreign  commerce  ;  but  there  were  others 
wholly  attributable  to  the  feeble  operation  of  the  confed- 
eracy. 

The  administration  of  government  by  Congress, 
through  the  medium  of  committees  and  boards,  greatly 
augmented  the  civil  expenditure ;  prevented  the  possi- 
bility of  secrecy  or  system,  and  the  numerous  expedients 
which  exigencies  suggested,  had  resulted  in  the  creation 
of  various  and  conflicting  chambers. 

The  Board  of  Treasury,  which  was  established  in  sev- 
enteen hundred  and  seventy-six,  had  struggled  through 
two  years  of  confusion  and  delay ;  frequently  changing 
its  members,  after  which  period  were  added  to  it  the 
offices  of  comptroller,  auditor,  and  treasurer,  and  two 
chambers  of  accounts.  The  duties  of  these  were  so  de- 
fined, as  to  constitute  them  checks  upon  each  other :  there 


^T.  22.]  HAMILTON.  559 

being,  however,  in  no  one,  that  superintendence  which 
was  necessary  to  a  systematic  management  of  the  finances. 
A  twelvemonth  had  not  elapsed  when  it  was  found  neces- 
sary to  change  this  arrangement,  and  a  new  organization 
was  adopted. 

By  this  scheme,  the  Board  of  Treasury  was  composed 
of  five  commissioners,  of  whom  three  were  permitted  to 
hold  their  seats  only  six  months  in  continuance,  and  the 
offices  of  auditor-general,  treasurer,  two  chambers  of  ac- 
counts, and  six  auditors,  were  substituted  for  the  previous 
plan.  To  this  complicated  system,  it  was  afterwards 
deemed  expedient  to  add  an  extra  chamber  of  accounts. 
This  last  body  had  just  commenced  its  operations,  when 
the  interference  with  the  Board  of  Treasury  in  their  re- 
spective duties,  led  to  the  necessity  of  declaring  that  board 
paramount  to  all  the  other  branches  of  the  treasury  de- 
partment. 

The  delays  attendant  upon  this  state  of  things  in  set- 
tling the  public  accounts,  added  to  the  inconveniences 
which  the  condition  of  the  currency  had  produced,  and 
the  fluctuating  measures  of  the  treasury,  deprived  it  of  all 
confidence,  and  gave  sanction  to  the  most  crude  and  ab- 
surd schemes  of  finance. 

Among  others,  it  was  proposed,  in  Virginia,  to  abolish 
all  private  comniQrce,  and  establish  companies,  including 
a  State,  or  parts  of  a  State  in  districts.  The  commercial 
operations  to  be  represented  by  stock ;  the  price  of  every 
article  to  be  fixed  by  the  companies ;  and  to  confer  upon 
them  the  power  of  taking  private  goods  into  their  custody. 
This  project  was  recommended  as  a  scheme  "  for  appre- 
ciating the  currency,  and  reducing  the  prices  of  necessa- 
ries." An  embargo  on  provisions  followed. 

As  the  pressure  was  more  immediately  felt  at  head- 
quarters, the  financial  difficulties  urged  themselves  upon 


570  THE    REPUBLIC*  [1779. 

the  individuals  there  with  peculiar  force.  The  situation 
of  Hamilton,  in  the  family  of  Washington,  rendering  him 
the  confidant  of  all  the  embarrassments  of  his  chiefj 
opened  to  him  an  enlarged  view  of  the  situation  of  the 
country  ;  and  enforced  upon  him  more  strongly  the  neces- 
sity of  decisive  and  immediate  relief.  His  intimacy,  also, 
with  the  French  officers,  enabled  him  to  judge  of  the  ex- 
tent of  their  expectations,  and  led  him  to  look  forward 
with  apprehension  to  a  failure  in  the  engagements  with 
France,  as  an  event  which  might,  with  other  causes,  lead, 
if  not  to  an  entire  abandonment  by  our  ally,  to  very  par- 
tial and  reluctant  succors. 

The  recent  debates  in  the  British  parliament,  had  also 
shown  the  strong  hopes  of  the  ministry,  that  the  resources 
of  the  United  States  were  nearly  exhausted,  and  their  ex- 
pectation that  a  continuance  of  the  war  might  lead  to  a 
dissolution  of  the  Union,  which  the  distempered  state  of 
some  parts  of  the  confederacy  seemed  at  a  distance  to  in- 
dicate as  not  improbable. 

To  meet  this  great  emergency,  Hamilton  tasked  his 
mind,  and  he  now  entered  upon  that  career  of  financial 
effort,  in  which  he  rendered  paramount  service  to  the 
American  people.  Moved  by  the  urgent  necessities  of  the 
country,  soon  after  the  army  entered  winter-quarters  at 
Morristown,  he  addressed  an  anonymous  letter  to  Robert 
Morris,  then  a  delegate  from  Pennsylvania  to  Congress. 
In  this  letter  he  states  his  plan  "  to  be  the  product  of  some 
reading  on  the  subjects  of  commerce  and  finance,  and  of 
occasional  reflections  on  our  particular  situation  ;  but  that 
a  want  of  leisure  had  prevented  its  being  examined  in  so 
many  lights,  and  digested  so  maturely,  as  the  importance 
requires."  He  requests,  that  if  the  outlines  are  thought 
worthy  of  attention,  and  any  difficulties  occur  which  de- 
mand explanations,  that  a  letter  should  be  directed  to 


^Er.  22.]  HAMILTON.  5fl 

James  Montague,  to  be  lodged  in  the  post-office  at  Morris- 
town  ;  and  that  though  the  writer  has  reasons  which  make 
him  unwilling  to  be  known,  if  a  personal  conference 
should  be  thought  material,  that  he  would  endeavor  to 
comply,  and  asks  the  letter  to  be  regarded  as  a  hasty  pro- 
duction. 

After  giving  as  his  reasons  for  not  addressing  him 
through  the  press,  the  extreme  delicacy  of  the  subject, 
and  the  effect  of  discussion  in  increasing  the  evil  "  by  ex- 
posing our  weak  side  to  the  popular  eye,  and  adding  false 
terrors  to  well-founded  apprehensions,"  he  proceeded  to 
examine  the  object  of  principal  concern, — the  state  of  the 
currency, — as  to  which  he  observes,  that  in  his  opinion, 
all  the  speculations  of  the  country  were  founded  in  error, 
— combats  the  idea  that  the  depreciation  could  have  been 
avoided,  and  the  impression  which  had  been  entertained 
that  the  money  might  be  restored  by  expedients  within 
our  own  resources ;  and  to  this  dangerous  and  prevalent 
error  he  attributes  the  delay  in  attempting  a  foreign  loan. 

He  shows  that  the  badness  of  the  money  was  origi- 
nally the  effect  of  the  condition  of  the  country,  and  of 
the  exertions  made  beyond  its  strength,  and  not  the  cause, 
though,  at  that  time,  it  partook  of  the  nature  of  both ; — 
that  as  prices  rose,  the  value  of  money  fell ;  and  that  as 
the  public  expenditures  became  immense,  no  taxes  which 
the  people  could  bear  on  that  quantity  of  money  which  is 
deemed  a  proper  medium,  would  have  been  sufficient  for 
the  current  demands  of  the  nation,  had  it  been  gold  in- 
stead of  paper  ;  that  the  idea  was  chimerical,  that  with- 
out resorting  to  foreign  loans,  we  could  do  otherwise  than 
augment  the  quantity  of  our  artificial  wealth  beyond 
those  bounds  which  were  proper  to  preserve  its  credit. 

That  the  quantity  of  money  in  circulation,  previous  to 
the  revolution,  was  about  thirty  millions  of  dollars,  which 


572  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1779. 

was  barely  sufficient  for  our  interior  commerce,  the  for- 
eign trade  being  carried  on  by  barter  ;  and  as  the  balance 
of  our  principal  trade  was  against  us,  and  the  specie  was 
transferred  to  meet  that  balance,  no  part  of  it  entered 
into  the  home  circulation ;  and  that  it  would  have  been 
impossible,  by  loans  and  taxes,  to  bring  such  part  of  it 
into  the  public  coffers  as  would  have  served  the  purposes 
of  the  war,  without  obstructing  commercial  operations. 

He  next  shows,  that  the  product  of  the  taxes,  both 
from  the  peculiar  situation  of  the  country,  and  by  refer- 
ence to  the  condition  of  other  countries,  would  necessarily 
be  inadequate  to  our  wants. 

Hence  he  infers,  that  Congress,  when  their  emissions 
rose  to  thirty  millions,  were  obliged,  in  order  to  keep  up 
the  supplies,  to  go  on  creating  artificial  revenues  by  new 
emissions ;  and  that  the  only  remedy  then  was  a  foreign 
loan,  which,  judiciously  applied,  and  assisted  by  a  vigor- 
ous taxation,  would  have  created  a  credit  that  might  have 
prevented  the  excess  of  emissions.  He  contends,  on  the 
same  principles,  that  in  proportion  to  the  extent  of  the 
depreciation  at  that  time,  was  the  impossibility  of  raising 
the  money  value  by  any  other  means,  and  that  in  the  ex- 
isting situation  of  the  country,  a  FOREIGN  LOAN  was  the 
only  expedient. 

"These,  reasonings  may  prove  useless,"  he  adds,  "as 
the  necessity  of  a  loan  is  admitted,  but  that  his  object  is  to 
establish  good  principles,  the  want  of  which  has  brought 
us  to  the  desperate  crisis  we  have  arrived  at,  and  may  be- 
tray us  into  fatal  mistakes.'1" 

The  next  inquiry  raised  is, — How  is  the  loan  to  be 
employed  ? — Two  plans  were  stated  to  have  been  in  con- 
templation : — one,  that  of  buying  up  the  paper,  which  he 
shows  would  have  been  impracticable,  from  the  rapid  arti- 
ficial appreciation  of  it,  and  would  require  means  far 


^T.  22.]  HAMILTON".  573 

beyond  the  compass  of  the  national  resources,  while  this 
appreciation  would  be  more  relative  to  the  purchasing 
medium,  than  to  the  prices  of  commodities,  as  the  value 
of  the  paper  might  be  raised  by  a  combination  of  indi- 
viduals, while  the  reduction  of  prices  must  necessarily  be 
slow,  depending,  as  it  would,  on  the  sentiments  of  the 
great  body  of  the  people. 

The  result  of  this  plan,  he  states,  would  be  "  that  the 
money  would  return  into  circulation  almost  as  fast  as  it 
was  drawn  out,  and  at  the  end  of  the  year  the  treasury 
would  be  completely  empty  ; — the  foreign  loan  dissipated, 
and  the  state  of  the  finances  as  deplorable  as  ever.  It 
would  be  much  better,  instead  of  purchasing  up  the  paper 
currency,  to  purchase  the  supplies  with  the  specie  or  bills." 
— "  A  great  source  of  error,"  he  observes,  "  in  disquisitions 
of  this  nature,  is  the  judging  of  events  by  abstract  calcu- 
lations, which,  though  geometrically  true,  are  false  as  they 
relate  to  the  concerns  of  beings  governed  more  by  pas- 
sion and  prejudice,  than  by  an  enlightened  sense  of  their 
interests.  A  degree  of  illusion  mixes  itself  in  all  the 
affairs  of  society.  The  opinion  of  objects  has  more  in- 
fluence than  their  real  nature.  The  quantity  of  money 
in  circulation,  is  certainly  a  chief  cause  of  its  declining ; 
but  we  find  it  is  depreciated  more  than  five  times  as  much 
as  it  ought  to  be : — the  excess  is  derived  from  opinion, — a 
want  of  confidence.  In  like  manner,  we  deceive  our- 
selves, when  we  suppose  the  value  will  increase  in  pro- 
portion as  the  quantity  is  lessened ;  opinion  will  operate 
here  also,  and  a  thousand  circumstances  may  promote  or 
counteract  the  principle." 

The  other  plan  proposed,  was  to  convert  the  loan  into 
merchandise,  and  import  it  on  public  account.  This  plan, 
though  better  than  the  former,  he  deems  also  liable  to 
great  objections,  but  not  wholly  to  be  rejected ;  and  after 


574  THE  REPUBLIC.  [1779. 

suggesting  a  tax  in  kind,  he  contends,  that  "  the  only  plan 
which  can  preserve  the  currency,  is  one  that  will  make  it 
the  immediate  interest  of  the  moneyed  men  to  co-operate 
with  government  in  its  support.  This  country  is  in  the 
same  predicament  in  which  France  was  previous  to  the 
famous  Mississippi  scheme,  projected  by  Mr.  Law.  Its 
paper  money,  like  ours,  had  dwindled  to  nothing,  and  no 
efforts  of  the  government  could  revive  it,  because  the 
people  had  lost  all  confidence  in  its  ability.  Mr.  Law, 
who  had  much  more  penetration  than  integrity,  readily 
perceived  that  no  plan  could  succeed,  which  did  not  unite 
the  interest  and  credit  of  rich  individuals  with  those  of 
the  state  ;  and  upon  this  he  framed  the  idea  of  his  project, 
which  so  far  agreed  in  principle  with  the  Bank  of  Eng- 
land,— the  foundation  was  good,  but  the  superstructure 
too  vast.  The  projectors  aimed  at  unlimited  wealth,  and 
the  government  itself  expected  too  much,  which  was  the 
cause  of  the  ultimate  miscarriage  of  the  scheme,  and  of 
all  the  mischiefs  that  befell  the  kingdom  in  consequence. 
It  will  be  our  wisdom  to  select  what  is  good  in  this  plan, 
and  in  any  others  that  have  gone  before  us,  avoiding  their 
defects  and  excesses.  Something  on  a  similar  principle  in 
America,  will  alone  accomplish  the  restoration  of  paper 
credit,  and  establish  a  permanent  fund  for  the  future  exi- 
-gencies  of  government." 

He  then  states  his  plan  to  be  an  American  bank,  to  be 
instituted  by  Congress  for  ten  years,  under  the  denomi- 
nation of  "  The  Bank  of  the  United"  States." 

The  basis  of  this  bank  was  to  be  a  foreign  loan  of  two 
millions  sterling,  to  be  invested  in  the  bank  as  a  part  of 
its  stock ;  a  subscription  to  be  opened  in  the  currency  of 
two  hundred  millions  of  dollars,  and  the  subscribers  to  be 
incorporated ;  the  payment  of  which  to  be  guarantied  by 
the  government  on  the  dissolution  of  the  bank,  by  ten 


^Ex.  22.]  HAMILTON.  575 

millions  of  specie,  being  at  the  rate  of  one  for  twenty,  or 
by  a  currency  bona  fide  equivalent,  and  the  annual  monev 
taxes  to  become  part  of  the  stock. 

All  the  remaining  paper  to  be  called  in,  (at  the  option 
of  the  possessor,)  and  bank  notes  to  be  issued  in  lieu  of  it 
for  so  much  sterling,  payable  to  the  bearer  in  three 
months  from  the  date,  at  two  per  cent,  per  annum  inter- 
est ;  a  pound  sterling  to  be  estimated  at  two  hundred  and 
sixty-six  and  two-thirds  of  the  existing  dollars ;  *  the  in- 
terest payable  punctually  in  specie  at  the  end  of  the  three 
months,  when  the  possessor  might  have  the  bank  notes  re- 
newed, or  receive  the  sum  deposited  in  the  old  paper ;  all 
the  money  issued  from  the  bank  to  be  of  the  same  de- 
nomination, and  on  the  same  terms. 

An  annual  loan  of  two  millions  sterling  to  be  furnished 
to  Congress  by  the  bank,  at  four  per  cent.,  and  the  whole, 
or  part  of  the  stock,  by  arrangement  between  the  bank 
and  a  Board  of  Trade,  which  he  contemplated,  to  be  em- 
ployed in  commerce.  If  only  a  part,  the  residue  to  be 
loaned  occasionally,  by  permission  of  Congress,  in  such 
sums  as  may  be  thought  expedient,  at  an  interest  of  six 
per  cent.,  on  private  securities ;  the  government  to  hold 
one  half  of  the  stock,  and  the  bank  to  be  managed  by 
trustees  of  the  stockholders,  under  the  inspection  of  the 
Board  of  Trade. 

The  part  of  the  manuscript  which  details  the  effect  of 
the  commercial  operations,  is  mutilated  ;  but  the  result  is 
stated  to  be,  that  the  war  might  be  carried  on  three  years, 
and  the  government  incur  a  debt  of  only  four  hundred 
and  twenty  thousand  pounds  sterling,  above  the  guaranty 
of  the  subscription,  which  it  is  probable  would  not  be  re- 
quired, as  the  corporation  would  find  it  their  interest  to 
obtain  a  renewal  of  their  charter. 

*  Sixty  dollars  for  one  dollar  of  four  shillings  and  sixpence  sterling. 


576  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1779. 

Having  presented  this  plan,  he  observes,  "  that  he  does 
not  believe  that  its  advantages  will  be  as  great  as  they 
appear  in  speculation,  from  a  less  profitable  commerce 
than  is  supposed  and  from  other  causes.  I  am  aware  how 
apt  the  imagination  is  to  be  heated  in  projects  of  this  na- 
ture, and  to  overlook  the  fallacies  which  often  lurk  in  first 
principles.  But  when  I  consider,  on  the  other  hand,  that 
this  scheme  stands  on  the  firm  footing  of  public  and  pri- 
vate faith,  that  it  links  the  interest  of  the  state  in  an  inti- 
mate connection  with  those  of  the  rich  individuals  belong- 
ing to  it ;  that  it  turns  the  wealth  and  influence  of  both 
into  a  commercial  channel,  for  mutual  benefit,  which  must 
afford  advantages  not  to  be  estimated ;  that  there  is  a  de- 
fect of  a  circulating  medium,  which  this  plan  supplies  by 
a  sort  of  creative  power,  converting  what  is  so  produced, 
into  a  real  and  efficacious  instrument  of  trade ;  I  say, 
when  I  consider  these  things,  and  many  more  that  might 
be  added,  I  cannot  forbear  feeling  a  degree  of  confidence 
in  the  plan,  and  at  least  hoping  that  it  is  capable  of  being 
improved  into  something  that  will  give  relief  to  our 
finances." 

To  enlarge  its  advantages,  he  suggests  that  a  variety 
of  secondary  expedients  may  be  invented,  and  the  whole 
scheme  of  annuities  engrafted  upon  it. 

That  the  European  loan  might  be  converted  into  a 
European  bank,  to  aid  the  American  bank,  by  engaging 
the  interests  of  the  wealthy,  and  that  the  bank  might  also 
make  contracts  with  the  government  for  the  supplies  of 
the  army,  on  terms  mutually  beneficial.  He  then  expa- 
tiates on  the  reasons  for  giving  one  half  of  the  stock  to 
the  government,  and  answers  the  objection  that  the  plan 
might  be  prejudicial  to  trade,  by  proposing  a  guaranty 
from  the  government  not  to  grant  any  "  exclusive  privi- 
leges." 


yEr.  H'2.]  HAMILTON.  577 

To  the  scheme,  notes  are  appended,  explanatory  ot 
the  operation  of  the  project ;  in  one  of  which  he  states, 
"  a  Board  of  Trade  ought  immediately  to  be  established. 
The  rojal  council  of  France,  and  the  subordinate  cham- 
bers in  each  province,  form  an  excellent  institution,  and 
may  in  many  respects,  prove  a  model.  Congress  have 
too  long  neglected  to  institute  a  good  scheme  of  adminis- 
tration, and  throw  public  business  into  proper  executive 
departments.  For  commerce,  I  prefer  a  board ;  but  for 
most  other  things,  single  men.  We  want  a  Minister  of 
War,  a  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs,  a  Minister  of  Finance, 
and  a  Minister  of  Marine.  There  is  always  more  deci- 
sion, more  despatch,  more  secrecy,  and  more  responsibility 
where  single  men,  than  where  bodies  are  concerned.  BY 

A  PLAN  OF  THIS  KIND,  WE  SHOULD  BLEND  THE  ADVANTAGES 
OF  A  MONARCHY  AND  OF  A  REPUBLIC,  IN  A  HAPPY  AND 

BENEFICIAL  UNION.  Men  will  only  devote  their  lives  and 
attention  to  a  profession  on  which  they  can  build  reputa- 
tion and  consequence,  which  they  do  not  share  with 
others.  If  this  plan  should  be  approved,  Congress  ought, 
immediately,  to  appoint  a  Minister  of  Finance.  He  ought 
to  be  a  man  of  ability,  to  comprehend  it  in  all  its  conse- 
quences, and  of  eloquence  to  make  others  comprehend 
and  relish  it.  He  ought,  besides,  to  have  some  general 
knowledge  of  the  science,  and  to  address  himself  to  some 
of  the  most  suitable  moneyed  men,  to  convince  them  of 
the  utility  of  the  project.  The  Congress  must  establish 
the  bank,  and  set  it  agoing.  I  know  of  no  man  that  has 
better  pretensions  than  yourself,  and  shall  be  very  happy 
to  hear  that  Congress  have  said,  '  Thou  art  the  man.' " 

At  a  time  when  the  intricate  science  of  finance  was 

little  understood  in  the  United  States,  the  clear,  sound 

opinions  taken  in  this  paper,  cannot  escape  observation, 

rejecting  all  empiric  expedients,  and  indicating  as  the  only 

VOL.  I.— 37 


578  THE   KEPUBL1C.  [1779. 

basis  of  a  permanent  system,  as  shown  in  the  policy  of 
elder  nations,  the  combination  of  public  with  private  capi- 
tal in  the  institution  of  a  great  national,  financial  agency. 

Hamilton's  project  was  not  embraced  in  all  its  parts, 
but  it  had  its  influence  on  the  mind  of  the  eminent  finan- 
cier of  the  Revolution.  Within  a  short  time,  a  plan  of  a 
bank*  in  Pennsylvania  was  introduced  by  Robert  Morris, 
founded  on  private  contributions,  to  furnish  the  army 
with  temporary  supplies ;  and  which,  though  limited  in  its 
purpose,  led  on  to  farther  results. 

The  idea  of  Executive  Departments,  instead  of  boards, 
also,  from  this  time,  became  a  topic  of  discussion  in  Con- 
gress ;  and  was  one  of  the  first  steps  towards  the  estab- 
lishment of  an  efficient  national  government. 

*  In  the  Life  of  Gouverneur  Morris,  i.  235,  a  letter  from  him  to  a  friend 
states :  "  The  first  hank  in  this  country  was  planned  by  your  humble  servant." 
This  may  refer  to  Robert  Morris's  plan,  reported  to  Congress  June  22d,  1780, 
but  more  probably  to  that  proposed  in  May,  1781.  G.  Morris  was  appointed 
bis  assistant  July  6,  1781.  Hamilton's,  therefore,  preceded  both. 


-to.  22.]  HAMILTON.  579 


NOTE. 

GENERAL   PHILIP   SOHUYLEB. 

WITHIN  a  few  months  past  the  exposures  of  George  Bancroft's  historical 
misstatements,  which  had  previously  been  very  serious,  have  been  resumed. 
Relatives  of  General  Greene,  of  General  Sullivan,  and  of  General  Schuyler, 
amazed  and  indignant  at  his  calumniations  of  their  ancestors,  have  disproved 
them  with  a  care,  precision,  and  fulness,  essentially  affecting  his  title  to  pub- 
lic confidence.  Among  these  exposures  is  a  paper  entitled  "  CORRESPONDENCE 
and  REMARKS  upon  Bancroft's  History  of  the  Northern  Campaign  of  1777, 
by  George  L.  Schuyler,"  "  April,  1867."  Its  direct  impeachments  of  this 
person  are  such  as  to  have  demanded  from  him  the  earliest  possible  reply. 
No  sufficient  reply  has  been  given.  No  sufficient  reply  can  be  given.  In- 
stead, he  has  contented  himself  with  bringing  forward  garbled  letters,  which, 
though  thus  mutilated,  do  not,  in  the  slightest  degree  sustain  his  charges. 

The  vindication  of  General  Schuyler  in  the  "  Remarks,"  expressly  relates 
to  his  "  private  character."  But,  as  Bancroft's  misstatemeuts  also  impeach 
General  Schuyler's  public  character  as  a  soldier,  and  are  in  conflict  with  the 
preceding  narrative,  a  brief  notice  of  them  in  this  place  is  deemed  requisite. 
Some  of  his  misstatements  are  his  own  mere  assertions.  The  residue  are 
disproved  by  authorities  which  will  now  be  adduced.  These  authorities  are 
records  of  facts  which  shew  his  deliberate,  studied  violations  of  truth,  and 
must  be  regarded  as  decisive  of  the  confidence  to  be  placed  in  him  as  an 
historian. 

In  his  "  History  of  the  United  States,"  vol.  IX.  p.  341,  Bancroft  writes : 
"  Angry  that  his  department  had  been  curtailed,  Schuyler,  in  the  second 
week  of  April,  took  his  seat  in  Congress,  to  complain  in  person,  and  assert 
his  right  to  be  replaced.  According  to  his  stating,  Ticonderoga  had  been  put 
into  a  strong  and  impregnable  condition  while  he  had  the  command  in 
chief,  with  Gates  as  his  junior  ;  his  measures  for  the  supply  and  mainten- 
ance of  the  post  were  in  full  operation,  and  left  no  doubt  of  its  future  safety, 
for  which  he  was  willing  to  take  on  himself  the  responsibility."  Comparo 
Bancroft  with  himself  [ix.  340].  "  But  Congress,  never  distrustful  of  itself, 
and  this  time  led  by  the  opinions  of  Schuyler,  voted  permission  to  Gates  to 


580  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1779. 

evacuate  Tyconderoga,  on  the  west  of  Lake  Champlain,  and  apply  his 
whole  force  to  securing  Fort  Independence,  and  the  water  defences  of  Lako 
George." — Gates  answered,  "  I  see  no  reason  for  abandoning  any  part  of 
the  post ;  I  am  not  the  least  apprehensive  there  will  be  occasion  to  surren- 
der one  acre  we  possess."  Bancroft  proceeds — "  His  opponents  were  pow- 
erful ;  on  the  third  of  May,  he  announced  to  Washington  his  intention 
'  to  resign  his  commission  ; '  and  Washington  interposed  no  dissuasions. 
But,  having  Duaue  as  a  skilful  manager,  instead  of  a  resignation,  he  apolo- 
gized to  Congress  for  the  words  that  had  given  offence  ;  a  committee  which, 
at  his  request,  inquired  into  his  use  of  the  public  money,  relieved  him  from 
injurious  rumors;  and  in  the  report  of  the  board  of  war,  after  a  discussion 
protracted  into  the  fourth  day,  an  accidental  majority  assured  him  the 
undivided  command  of  Albany,  Tyconderoga,  Fort  Stanwix,  and  their  de- 
pendencies." 

Compare  Chief  Justice  Marshall  ["  Life  of  George  Washington,"  Vol.  II, 
p.  187.  Second  Edition,  1836].  "  The  service  of  General  Schuyler,  in  the 
Northern  department,  had  been  more  solid  than  brilliant.  Dissatisfied  with 
his  situation,  and  disgusted  with  the  injustice  he  supposed  himself  to  experi- 
ence, he  had  for  some  time  meditated  a  resignation,  und  had  been  retained 
in  the  service  only  by  the  deep  interest  he  felt  in  the  struggle  of  his  country  for 
independence.  So  soon  as  his  ft  ars  for  Tyconderoga  were  removed  by  the 
partial  opening  of  Lake  Champlain,  he  waited  in  person  on  Congress  for  the 
purpose  of  adjusting  hi*  accounts,  obtaining  an  inquiry  into  his  conduct,  and 
supporting  those  necessary  measures  of  defence  in  the  North,  which  were  sug- 
gested by  his  perfect  knowledge  of  the  country.  At  his  request,  a  committee, 
consisting  of  a  member  from  each  State,  was  appointed  to  inquire  into  his 
conduct  during  the  time  he  had  held  a  command  in  the  army.  The  arduous 
services  performed  by  this  meritorious  officer,  when  investigated,  were  found 
no  far  to  exceed  any  estimate  which  had  been  made  of  them,  that  Congress 
deemed  it  essential  to  the  public  interest  to  prevail  on  him  to  retain  his  commis- 
sion. May  22.  The  resolution  which  fixed  his  headquarters  at  Albany,  was 
repealed,  and  he  was  directed  to  proceed  forthwith  to  the  Northern  depart- 
ment and  to  take  the  command  of  it." 

Compare  [Gordon's  History  of  the  United  States,  ii.  172,  202.*]  "  Con- 
gress having  dismissed  Dr.  Samuel  Stringer,  a  director  of  the  hospital  in  the 
Northern  department  of  the  army,  General  Schuyler  took  offence  at  it,  and 
expressed  himself  unguardedly  in  some  of  his  official  letters."  March  15, 
Congress  passed  some  strong  resolutions.  "General  Schnyler  presented  a 
memorial  to  Congress,  explaining  the  expressions  in  his  letter  which  hcd 
given  them  offence."  "They  resolved,  on  the  8th  of  May,  that  the  explanation 

*  Gordon  •«  as  in  Intimate  relations  with  Gtneral  Gates. 


^T.  22.]  HAMILTON.  531 

w:is  satisfactory  ;  and  that  now  they  entertained  the  same  javorable  senti- 
ments concerning  him,  which  they  entertained  before  that  letter  was  re- 
ceived. This  seems  to  have  been  designedly  preparative  to  what  followed  n 
fortnight  after,  when  it  was  resolved  "  that  Albany,  Tyconderoga,  Fort  Stan- 
wix,  and  their  dependencies,  be  henceforth  considered  ns  forrnin»  the 
Northern  Department,  that  Major-General  Schuyler  be  directed  forthwith  to 
proceed  to  the  Northern  Department  to  take  the  command  there."  It  was 
said  that  he  was  the  only  single  man  who  could  keep  the  New  York  subjects 
united  against  the  common  enemy,  and  that  his  presence  was  absolutely 
necessary  for  their  immediate  succour  and  service,  as  well  as  that  of  the 
United  States  closely  connected  therewith.  The  New  England  delegates, 
the  President  excepted,  opposed  his  being  directed  to  take  the  command,  as 
it  superseded  General  Gates."  Some  of  these  delegates  are  seen  to  have  been 
parties  to  the  cabal  which  would  have  superseded  Washington,  first  by 
Charles  Lee,  then  by  Gates.  James  Duane,  styled  by  Bancroft  "  a  skilful 
manager"  represented  the  State  of  New  York  in  the  first  Congress  in  1774, 
and  also  until  the  year  1782.  He  was  the  confided-in  correspondent 
of  Washington,  as  to  matters  both  of  public  and  private  importance. 
When  urging  upon  Duane,  in  1780,  the  appointment  by  Congress  of 
a  Committee  of  Congress  "  to  reside  near  Headquarters,"  clothed  with 
large  powers,  he  remarks,  "  There  is  no  man  that  can  be  more  useful  as  a 
member  of  the  committee  than  General  Schuyler.  His  perfect  knowledge 
of  the  resources  of  the  country,  the  activity  of  his  temper,  his  fruitfulness  of 
expedients,  his  sound  military  sense,  make  me  wish,  above  all  things,  that  he 
may  be  appointed.  I  wish  the  chancellor  or  yourse/fconld  be  in  the  appoint- 
ment. A  well  composed  committee  is  of  primary  importance."  Duane  was 
subsequently  Mayor  of  the  City  of  New  York,  :md  the  first  appointed  judge 
by  Washington,  of  the  District  of  New  York. 

II.  Bancroft's  History,  IX.  361.  "  On  the  12th  (June) "  St.  Clair,  the  best 
of  the  brigadiers  then  in  the  North  reached  Tyconderoga.  Five  days  later, 
"June  17,  Schnylcr  visited  his  army."  Then,  stating  the  indefensible  con- 
dition of  these  posts,  Bancroft  proceeds :  "  The  only  good  part  was  to  pre- 
pare for  evacuating  the  post,  but  from  the  dread  of  clamor,  shirking  the  re- 
sponsibility of  giving  definite  instructions,  Schuyler  returned  to  Albany,  and 
busied  himself  with  forwarding  to  Tyconderoga  supplies  for  a  long  siege." 

On  the  4th  of  June,  Schuyler  resumed  the  command  of  the  Northern 
army,  and  on  the  5th,  he  wrote  to  St.  Clair,  utging  him  to  make  Mount  In- 
dependence capable  of  sustaining  a  long  and  vigorous  siege  ;  which,  as  the 
whole  force  was  insufficient  for  both  posts,  he  directed  should  be  the  pri- 
mary object.*  He  also  wrote  to  Washington  asking  reinforcements.  "  It 

*  Proceedings  of  Court  Martial  upon  General  Schuyler. 


582  THE   KEPUBLIC.  [1779. 

had  been"  (Sparks'  Washington,  iv.  467,  note)  "a  favorite  idea  with  Con- 
gress and  the  Commander-in-chief,  that  the  British  would  not  operate  in 
force  from  Canada  during  the  present  campaign,  but  that  the  troops  would 
be  chiefly  brought  round  by  water  to  reinforce  Howe.  Hence  the  small 
preparations  for  the  defence  of  Tyconderoga,  and  for  forming  a  Northern 
army."  Most  erroneous  impressions  had  been  given  by  Gates,  who  wrote  to 
Congress  "  that  the  troops  were  in  the  bat  order,  the  boom  and  bridge 
finished,  and  every  preparation  for  defence  made." 

Thus  impressed,  Washington  wrote  to  Schuyler  on  the  20th  of  June,  "  as 
the  garrison  of  Tyconderoga  is  sufficient  to  hold  it  against  any  attack,  I  do 
not  think  it  politic,  under  your  representation  of  the  scarcity  of  provisions, 
to  send  up  troops  to  consume  what  ought  to  be  thrown  into  the  fort.  It  is 
evident  from  General  St.  Glair's  letter,  that  it  will  not  be  proper  to  order 
up'the  reinforcement  before  it  is  really  wanted,  for  he  very  judiciously  ob- 
serves, that  they  will  consume  the  stores." 

Having  made  every  exertion  to  forward  supplies  from  Albany,  Schuyler 
procceeded  to  Tyconderoga,  which  he  reached  on  the  17th  of  June  (Gor- 
don, ii.  204) ;  "  but  did  not  find  the  post  in  so  good  a  state  of  defence  as  he 
expected.  He  imagined  that  the  proposed  obstructions  (which  had  been 
ordered  by  Congress  the  last  December,  and  which  had  been  backed  by  his 
order  given  in  February,  and  repeated  the  5th  of  June)  would  have  been 
completed,  or  at  least  considerably  more  advanced.  That  they  were  carried 
on  with  no  more  dispatch  was  imputed  greatly  to  the  late  arrival  of  such 
troops,  as  could  not  be  brought  to  work  in  spirit,  to  artificers  not  coming 
by  the  time  they  were  ordered,  and  to  a  want  of  working  cattle." 

Of  the  state  of  affairs,  as  presented  by  the  authorities  cited,  Bancroft 
can  have  no  excuse  for  being  ignorant,  nor  has  he  adduced  a  particle  of 
evidence  shewing  their  inaccuracy.  Yet  he  writes  (ix.  372,  3.)  "  Mean- 
time, the  British  were  never  harried  by  the  troops  with  Schuyler,  against 
whom  public  opinion  was  rising.  Men  reasoned  rightly,  that  if  Tycon- 
deroga was  untenable,  he  should  have  known  it,  and  given  timely  orders 
for  its  evacuation,  instead  of  which  he  had  been  heaping  up  stores  there  to 
the  last.  To  screen  his  popularity,  he  insisted  that  the  retreat  was  made 
without  the  least  hint  from  himself,  and  was  '  ill  judged,  and  not  warranted 
by  necessity.'  .  .  Schuyler  owed  his  place  to  his  social  position,  not  to 
military  talents.  Anxious,  and  suspected  of  a  want  of  personal  courage,  he 
found  every  thing  go  ill  under  his  command.  .  .  The  aid  of  Vermont 
was  needed  ;  Schuyler  would  never  address  its  secretary  except  '  in  his  pri- 
vate  capacity.1  There  conld  be  no  hope  of  a  successful  campaign,  but  with 
the  hearty  co-operation  of  New  England  ;  yet  Schuyler  gave  leave  for  one 
half  of  its  militia  to  go  home  at  once,  the  rest  to  follow  in  three  weeks,  and 


J3T.  22.]  HAMILTON.  583 

then  called  upon  Washington  to  supply  their  places  by  troops  from  the 
south  of  Hudson's  river,  saying  to  his  friends  that  one  Southern  soldier  was 
worth  two  from  New  England.  On  the  twenty-second,  long  before  Burgoyne 
was  ready  to  advance,  Schuyler  retreated  to  a  position  four  miles  below 
Fort  Edward.  Here  again  he  complained  of  bis  "  exposure  to  immediate 
ruin."  His  friends  urged  him  to  silence  the  growing  suspicion  of  his 
cowardice ;  he  answered,  "  If  there  is  a  battle  I  shall  certainly  expose  my- 
self more  than  is  prudent."  To  the  New  York  Council  of  Safety  he  wrote 
on  the  twenty-fourth  :  "  I  mean  to  dispute  every  inch  of  ground  with  Bur- 
goyne,and  retard  his  descent  as  long  as  possible  ;  "  and  in  less  than  a  week, 
without  disputing  anything,  he  retreated  to  Saratoga,  having  his  heart  set 
on  a  position  at  the  junction  of  the  Mohawk  and  Hudson.  The  courage 
of  the  commander  being  gone,  his  officers  and  his  army  became  spiritless ; 
and  as  his  only  resource,  he  solicited  aid  from  Washington  with  unreasoning 
importunity." 

Compare  Chief-Justice  Marshall  [i.  196].  "  The  time  afforded  by  Bur- 
goyne's  delay  had  been  employed  by  Schuyler  to  the  utmost  advantage. 
Some  reinforcements  of  continental  troops  had  arrived  from  Peekskill,  and 
the  militia  had  been  assembled,  but  his  strength  did  not  yet  afford  a  reason- 
able prospect  of  success  in  a  contest  with  the  enemy  opposed  to  him.  On 
this  account,  as  Burgoyne  approached  Fort  Edward,  Schuyler  retired  over 
the  Hudson  to  Saratoga,  and  soon  afterwards  to  Stillwater.'1 

Compare  Gordon  [ii.  210].  "By  reason  of  the  route  which  the  general  " 
(Burgoyne)  "took,  he  did  not  arrive  at  Hudson's  river,  and  fix  his  headquar- 
ters near  Fort  Edward,  till  iheSQth  of  July.  Fort  Ed  ward  is  no  more  than  the 
ruins  of  a  former  fort,  and  of  no  consequence  to  any  party.  It  could  afford 
no  cover  to  Gen.  Schuyler,  and  only  gave  a  name  to  the  place  where  it  was 
situated.  The  General  left  it  several  days  before  Burgoyne  gained  its  neigh- 
borhood." 

What  was  the  force  of  the  invading  army  ?  Bancroft  gives  it,  ix.  366. 
"  As  they  encamped  at  evening  before  Tyconderoga  and  Mount  Independ- 
ence, the  rank  and  file,  exclusive  of  Indians,  numbered  three  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  twenty-four  British,  three  thousand  and  sixteen  Germans,  two 
hundred  and  fifty  provincials,  besides  four  hundred  and  seventy-three  of 
the  choicest  artillerists,  with  the  most  complete  supply  of  artillery  ever 
furnished  to  such  an  army." 

Mark  his  misstatements — 1st.  With  a  force  so  inferior,  of  such  a  char- 
acter, how  could  Schuyler  have  "harried"  the  British?  2d.  "To  screen 
his  popularity,  he  insisted  that  the  retreat  was  made  without  the  least 
hint  from  himself."  St.  Clair  states  that,  when  he  proposed  to  him  to  send 
a  note  to  the  printer  to  assure  the  people  that  he  had  no  part  in  abandon- 


584  THE  REPUBLIC.  [1779 

ingwhat  they  thought  their  strongest  hold,  he  "(Sehuyler)  thought  it  not  so 
proper  at  that  time."  3d.  "  The  aid  of  Vermont  was  needed ;  Sehuyler 
would  never  address  its  secretary  except  'in  his  private  capacity."1  The 
text  shows  that  New  York  contested  the  independence  of  Vermont,  and 
Sehuyler  could  not  recognize  it  by  addressing  its  secretary  in  any  other 
than  "  his  private  capacity  ;  "  but  Bancroft  omits  wholly  to  state  the  influence 
exerted  by  Sehuyler  to  induce  General  Stark  to  come  forth,  who,  winning 
the  battle  of  Bennington,  aided  so  much  in  the  conquest  of  Burgoyne — nor 
the  other  important  facts,  stated  by  Chief-Justice  Marshall  [i.  195],  that 
"  the  orders  to  General  Lincoln"  to  join  him  "  were  countermanded,  ;md  he 
was  directed  with  the  militia  of  Massachusetts,  New  Hampshire,  and  the 
Grants  "  (Vermont),  "  making,  as  was  understood,  a  total  of  between  two  and 
three  thousand  men,  to  place  himself  in  the  rear  of  the  British  army,  and 
cut  off  his  communication  with  the  lakes  " — nor  the  other  important  fact 
stated  by  Marshall  [i.  196]. — That  being  informed  that  "Colonel  St.  Leger 
had  penetrated  to  the  Mohawk,  where  he  had  laid  siege  to  Fort  Schuyler, 
the  importance  of  protecting  the  inhabitants  from  the  savages,  and  of  pre- 
venting a  junction  between  St.  Leger  and  Burgoyne,  and  the  consequent 
loss  of  the  country  on  the  Mohawk,  determined  Schuyler,  vxak  as  he  teas,  to 
detach  Major-General  Arnold  with  three  Continental  regiments  to  raise  the 
siege.  The  army  was  so  enfeebled  by  this  measure,  that  its  removal  to  a 
place  of  greater  security  became  necessary,  and  it  was  withdrawn  to  some 
islands  in  the  confluence  of  the  Hudson  and  the  Moha/rk,  where  the  camp 
was  deemed  more  defensible."  Yet  Bancroft  writes  [ix.  376],  '''flying 
from  a  shadow  cast  before  him,  he  moved  his  army  to  the  first  island  in 
the  mouth  of  the  Mohawk."  Thus  weakened,  and  for  such  important 
objects,  how  could  Schuyler  have  "  disputed  an  inch  of  ground  "  with  Bur- 
goyne, and  why  ought  he  not  to  have  retreaTed  when  it  would  have  been 
Mich  direful  folly  to  have  remained  ?  Ought  he  to  have  remained  to  sur- 
render his  little  force  to  Burgoyne,  or  to  have  been  utterly  destroyed  by 
him  ?  Ought  he  to  have  remained,  thus  increasing,  by  the  greater  distance 
from  their  sources,  the  difficulties  of  supplies  ?  Ought  he  to  have  remained, 
thus  delaying  the  arrival  of  reinforcements  ?  Ought  he  to  have  remained  in 
an  absolutely  indefensible  position,  instead  of  occupying  the  most  defensible 
position,  until  the  commands  of  Arnold  and  of  Lincoln  should  return,  having 
impaired  the  strength  of  Burgoyne,  and  delayed  greatly  his  advance  by 
interposed  obstacles ;  and  until  the  reinforcements  he  sought  from  Washing- 
ton could  arrive  ?  The  advantage  of  this  last  position,  approved  by  all  the 
general  officers  in  council,  is  more  approved  by  the  great  result  Here  was 
formed,  we  are  told  by  the  enemy's  General,  Reidesel,  "  the  nucleus  of  the 
army  which  was  afterwards  put  under  the  command  of  Gates,"  and  which, 


^ET.  22.]  HAMILTON.  535 

sufficiently  strengthened  by  the  reinforcements  from  Washington  and'  the 
incoming  militia,  conquered  Burgovne. 

On  the  20th  of  June,  the  date  of  Washington's  last  quoted  letter,  a 
council  of  general  officers  was  held  at  Tycondcroga.  They  were  Schuyler, 
St.  Clair,  Fermoy,  Poor,  Patterson.  It  was  then  agreed  unanimously,  that 
the  number  of  troops  was  "  greatly  inadequate  to  the  defence  of  both 
posts,"  Tyconderoga  and  Mount  Independence — that  both  posts  ought 
nevertheless  to  be  maintained  as  long  as  possible,  consistent  with  the  safety 
of  the  troops  and  stores — that  if  it  shall  become  necessary  to  evacuate  one  or 
other  of  the  posts,  and  that  remains  to  our  election  which,  that  it  ought  to 
be  the  Tyconderoga  side ; "  and  then,  resolving  to  repair  and  to  add  new 
works,  it  was  agreed  that  from  the  state  of  the  works,  and  inadequacy  of 
supplies,  "it  is  prudent  to  provide  for  a  retreat." 

Chief-Justice  Marshall  writes — [i.  188.] — "  General  Schuyler  was  sen- 
sible of  the  danger  which  threatened  him,  and  made  every  exertion  to  meet  it. 
After  completing  his  arrangements  at  Tyconderoga  for  sustaining  a  siege, 
he  had  proceeded  to  Albany,  for  the  purpose  of  attending  to  his  supplies, 
and  of  expediting  the  march  of  reinforcements,  '*  when  he  received  intel- 
ligence from  St.  Clair  that  Burgoyne  had  appeared  before  Tyconderoga." 
On  receiving  this  advice,  Schuyler  hastened  to  join  him. 

[Gordon  ii.  205.] — "  General  St.  Clair  hoped  that  the  enemy  would  have 
assaulted  him,  and  depended  on  that  for  rendering  his  small  garrison  ser- 
viceable to  his  country,  as  he  was  persuaded  that  his  troops  were  brave ; 
and  in  case  of  an  assault,  would  have  given  a  good  account  of  the  assailants. 
But  the  moment  he  was  informed  of  Burgoyne's  numbers,  and  saw  that  a 
regular  siege  was  meant,  he  was  certain  that  the  effectual  defence  of  the 
posts  wns  impossible." 

[Irving's  Life  of  Washington,  iii.  94.] — "  Having  noted  the  state  of 
affairs  and  the  wants  of  the  garrison,  Schuyler  hastened  to  Fort  George, 
whence  he  sent  on  provisions  for  upwards  of  sixty  days  ;  and  from  the  banks 
of  the  Hudson  additional  carpenters  and  working  cattle.  '  Business,'  he 
wrote  to  Congress,  '  will  now  go  on  in  better  train,  and  I  hope  with  much 
more  spirit,  and  I  trust  we  shall  still  be  able  to  put  everything  in  such 
order  as  to  give  the  enemy  a  good  reception,  and,  I  hope,  a  repulse,  should 
they  attempt  a  real  attack,  which,  I  conjecture,  will  not  be  soon,  if  at  all, 
although  I  expect  they  will  approach  with  their  fleet  to  keep  us  in  alarm, 
and  to  draw  our  attention  from  other  quarters,  where  they  may  mean  a  real 
attack.' " 

Being  quickly  environed  by  the  enemy,  St.  Clair  decided  to  evacuate  the 
posts.  He  stated  on  his  trial,  that  "  he  had  seriously  considered  the  conse- 
quences of  the  step  he  was  taking.  If  he  remained  there,  he  would  save 


586  THE   REPUBLIC.  [1779. 

his  Character  and  lose  his  army.  If  he  went  off,  he  would  ?ave  the  army 
and  lose  his  character ;  the  last  of  which  he  was  determined  to  sacrifice  to 
the  cause  in  which  he  was  engaged."  "  A  Council  of  War  was  called,  and 
(Gordon  ii.  206)  it  was  unanimously  concluded  upon  to  evacuate  as  soon  as 
possible,"  (this  took  place  on  the  sixth  of  July).  "  The  General,  by  evacuat- 
ing, intended  to  throw  his  troops  between  the  country  and  the  royal  army, 
that  the  militia  might  have  a  body  to  collect  to."  In  this  purpose  he  was 
disappointed.  Having  made  a  forced  march  of  thirty  miles  in  one  day  to 
Gastleton,  intelligence  "  determined  him  to  change  his  route,  and  to  strike 
into  the  woods  at  the  left,  lest  he  should  be  intercepted  at  Fort  Anne.  Two 
New  England  regiments  of  Militia  discovered  such  a  plundering  disposition 
on  their  march,  and  behaved  so  disorderly  during  the  whole  retreat,  that 
two  days  after  leaving  Castleton,  he  was  obliged  to  dismiss  them  from  the 
army  with  disgrace."  He  joined  Gen.  Schuyler  011  the  12th,  having  "  suf- 
fered much  from  bad  weather  and  want  of  provisions." 

Now  as  to  Bancroft's  charge  upon  Schuyler — "  from  dread  of  clamor 
shirking  the  responsibility  of  giving  definite  instructions  to  prepare  for 
evacuating  the  post"  It  is  seen  that,  by  the  Council  of  Officers  held  on  the 
20th  of  June,  over  which  Schuyler  presided,  it  was  unanimously  agreed  to 
be  prudent  "to  provide  for  a  retreat."  It  baa  been  seen  that  Washington 
did  not,  on  that  very  day,  anticipate  an  attack  upon  Tyconderoga.  A  letter 
of  St.  Clair  of  the  17th  of  July,  to  Washington  (Correspondence  of  the  Re- 
volution, i.  403),  shows  he  was  of  the  same  opinion.  "  But  here,  again,  it 
may  be  asked  why,  when  I  found  myself  in  the  situation  I  have  described, 
I  did  not  retreat  sooner,  when  everything  might  have  been  saved.  I  have 
only  to  answer  that,  until  the  enemy  sat  down  before  the  place,  I  believed 
the  small  garrison  I  had  to  be  sufficient.  The  intelligence  that  Congress  had 
received,  that  no  serious  attempt  in  that  quarter  teas  intended,  as  it  gained 
credit  with  them,  I  never  doubled,  and  was  unwilling  to  be  the  occasion  of 
drawing  off  any  part  of  your  army,  as  the  operations  might  thereby  be  rendered 
less  vigorous  ;  and  1  knew  too,  that  you  could  very  illy  spare  them.  Besides, 
until  the  case  become  so  urgent  that  I  had  no  alternative  but  the  evacua- 
tion of  my  posts,  or  the  loss  of  the  army,  it  did  not  lie  with  me  to  deter- 
mine upon." 

With  such  opinions  and  such  intelligence,  what  excuse  could  Schuyler 
have  offered  for  an  evacuation  that  would  have  been  attended  witli  probable 
consequences  of  such  immense  moment  ?  Such  was  St.  Glair's  confidence 
that,  "on  the  last  day  of  June,"  Bancroft  relates,  ix.  366,  he  wrote  to 
Schuyler — "  Should  the  enemy  attack  us,  they  will  go  back  further  than  they 
came."  On  the  third  of  July,  one  of  St.  Clair's  aids  promised  Washington 
"  the  total  defeat  of  the  enemy." 


M-t.  22.]  HAMILTON.  587 

Sehuyler  returned  from  Fort  George  to  Albany.  Here,  Washington 
Irving  states  ["  Life  of  Washington,  iii.  100,"]  he  "  was  sending  up  re- 
inforcements of  continental  troops  and  militia,  and  awaiting  the  arrival  of 
further  reinforcements.  He  was  endeavoring  also  to  provide  for  the  security 
of  the  Department  in  other  quarters,  which  the  enemy  were  harrassing. 
Even  when  Burgoyne  had  commenced  entrenching,  Sehuyler  wrote  St. 
Clair :  "  I  shall  have  great  hopes,  */  General  Burgoyne  continues  in  the 
vicinity  of  your  post  until  we  get  up,  and  dares  risk  an  engagement,  we  shall 
give  a  good  account.  If  we  act  with  vigor  and  spirit  we  have  nothing  to 
fear,  but  if  once  despondency  takes  place,  the  worst  consequences  are  to  be 
apprehended.  It  is,  therefore,  incumbent  on  you  "  (General  Herkimer)  "  to 
labor  to  keep  up  the  spirits  of  the  people."  "  In  the  meantime  he  awaited," 
[Irving  iii.  102],  "  the  arrival  of  the  troops  from  Peekskill  with  impatience. 
On  the  5th  they  had  not  appeared.  "  The  moment  they  do,"  he  writes,  "  I 
shall  move  with  them.  If  they  do  not  arrive  by  to-morrow,  I  go  without 
them,  and  will  do  the  best  I  can  with  the  militia."  The  morning  of  the  next 
day  he  departed.  On  the  same  day,  while  "  on  his  way  with  reinforcements 
for  the  fortress,"  he  received  news  at  Stillwater  of  its  loss.  He  reached 
Fort  Edward  on  the  ninth.  What  was  the  situation  here  ?  [Gordon  ii.  209.] 
"  The  General  was  obliged  to  strip  the  men  to  send  to  the  troops  "  of  Ver- 
mont gallantly  fighting  at  Hubbardton,  *'  by  which  his  own  were  left  without 
lead  for  some  days,  except  a  mere  trifle  from  Albany,  obtained  by  stripping 
the  windows."  He  now  wrote  to  Washington  :  "  I  am  here,  s>t  the  head  of 
a  handful  of  men,  not  above  fifteen  hundred,  without  provisions,  little 
ammunitioii,  not  above  five  rounds  to  a  man,  having  neither  ball  nor  lead  to 
make  any,  the  country  in  the  deepest  consternation  ;  no  carriages  to  move 
the  stores  from  Fort  George,  which  I  expect  every  moment  to  learn  is 
attacked.  And  what  adds  to  my  distress  is,  that  a  report  prevails  that  I 
had  given  orders  for  the  evacuation  of  Tyconderoga,  whereas  not  the  most 
distant  hint  of  such  an  intention  can  be  drawn  from  any  of  my  letters  to 
General  St.  Clair,  or  any  other  person  whatever." 

Three  days  after,  St.  Clair  joined  him.  On  the  14tb,  Sehuyler  again  wrote 
to  Washington,  from  Fort  Edward,  stating  that  St.  Cluir  "  supposes  the 
force,"  which  had  been  halted  twelve  miles  below,  "  about  fifteen  hundred." 
I  do  not  suppose  our  whole  strength  in  this  Departmtnt  exceeds  four  thousand 
five  hundred  men."  ''  I  find  the  whole  of  General  Nixon's  brigade  to  con- 
sist of  five  hundred  and  seventy-five  rank  and  file,  fit  for  duty,  and  eleven 
sick.  Several  of  them  are  negroes,  and  many  of  them  young,  small,  and 
feeble  boys.  Desertion  prevails  and  disease  gains  ground,  nor  is  it  to  be 
wondered  at,  for  we  have  neither  huts,  houses,  barns,  boards,  or  any  shelter, 
except  a  little  brush.  Every  rain  that  falls,  and  we  have  it  in  great 


588  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1799. 

abundnncc  almost  every  day,  wets  the  men  to  the  skin.  We  are  besides  in 
want  of  every  kind  of  necessary,  provisions  excepted.  Camp  kettles  we 
have  so  few,  that  we  cannot  afford  above  one  to  twenty  men.  Although  we 
have  ne-ir  fifteen  tons  of  powder,  yet  we  have  so  little  lead,  that  I  could  not 
give  each  man  above  fifteen  rounds  ;  and  although  I  have  saved  about  thirty 
pieces  of  light  artillery,  yet  I  have  not  a  single  carriage  for  them,  so  that 
my  whole  train  of  artillery  consists  of  two  iron  field-pieces."  Thus  weak  and 
unprovided,  he  retired  to  Moses'  Creek,  four  miles  below,  whence  on  the 
27th  of  July  he  gave  the  official  state  of  his  little  force.  "  It  consists  of 
2,700  continental  troops."  Connecticut  militia,  eight  commissioned  officers, 
six  noncommissioned,  one  drummer,  six  sick,  "and  three  rank  and  file  fit 
for  duty ;  the  rest,  nfter  remaining  three  or  four  days,  deserted  u.«."  From 
Berkshire  militia  of  1,200  about  1,000  deserted.  Of  Hampshire  militia  over 
200  left.  Of  Albany  County  "  1,060  are  left,  being  forty-six  more  than  half 
of  what  were  upon  the  ground,  when  it  was  resolved  to  let  half  return  to 
their  habitations."  [Gordon  5i.  211.] 

"Schuyler,"  Bancroft  states,  "  gave  leave  for  one  half  of  its  militia,"  that 
of  New  England  "  to  go  home  at  once,  and  the  rest  to  follow  in  three  weeks." 
The  last  quotation  from  Gordon,  giving  Schuyler's  official  report,  shews,  that 
most  of  the  militia  from  New  England  had  deserted,  and  that  the  leave  to 
one  half  of  the  militia  to  return  to  their  habitations  was  not  given  to  the 
New  England  militia,  but  to  the  militia  of  Albany  county,  who  could  quickly 
have  been  reassembled,  the  motive  to  which — an  act  of  mercy — may  be 
inferred  from  Bancroft's  statement  [ix.  374],  that,  "in  the  other  counties," 
one  of  which  was  that  of  Albany,  "  scarcely  men  enough  remained  at  home 
to  secure  the  plentiful  harvest."  Nor  is  this  the  only  error ;  Chancellor 
Kent,  the  affectionate  memorialist  of  Schuyler,  writes — "  By  the  advice  of  a 
Council  of  general  officers,  Schuyler  was  obliged  to  let  one  half  of  the  militia 
go  home,  under  the  promise  of  the  residue  to  continue  for  three  weeks." 
Nor  did  Schuyler  undervalue  the  prowess  of  New  England  soldiers.  With 
Washington  he  disliked  the  insubordination  of  the  officers,  and  he  stated, 
"  he  wished  to  have  his  army  composed  of  troops  from  as  many  different 
States  as  possible ;  the  Southern  people  having  a  greater  spirit  of  discipline 
and  subordination  might,  he  thought,  introduce  it  among  the  Eastern  peo- 
ple." [Irving's  Washington,  ii.  27.]  Bancroft,  having  expatiated  on  the 
insubordination  of  the  militia,  1776  [ix.  13fi],  remarks,  "the  want  of  good 
officers  was  still  more  to  be  complained  of;  especially  those  from  New  Eng- 
land did  not  fully  represent  the  talent  and  military  zeal  of  that  part  of  the 
country." 

The  truths  told  by  Chief-Justice  Marshall  are  not  only  an  abundant 
vindication  of  Schuyler's  having  relinquished  his  intention  "  to  dispute  every 


JBn.  22.]  HAMILTON.  5^9 

inch  of  the  ground  "  for  the  greater  objects  attained  by  detaching  from  his 
army,  but  are  decisive  proofs  of  what  have  been  truly  called  '•  his  fortitude 
and  prowess  in  moments  of  difficulty,  his  promptness  and  fearlessness." 
[Burgoyne's  campaign,  51.]  "  General  Schuyler  called  a  council  of  his 
officers,  and  asked  their  advice  as  to  the  relief  of  Fort  Schuyler.  It  is  per- 
haps not  generally  known,  that  he  was  opposed  by  them.  As  he  walked 
about  in  the  greatest  anxiety,  urging  them  to  come  to  his  opinion,  he  over- 
heard some  of  them  saying — '  he  means  to  weaken  the  army.'  The  emo- 
tions of  the  veteran  were  always  violent  at  the  recollection  of  this  charge. 
Indignantly  he  exclaimed,  '  Gentlemen,  I  shall  take  the  responsibility  upon 
myself.  Where  is  the  brigadier  that  will  take  the  command  of  the  relief? 
I  shall  beat  up  for  volunteers  to  morrow.'  The  brave,  gallant,  the  ill- 
fated  Arnold,  started  up  with  his  characteristic  quickness  and  offered  to  take 
command  of  the  expedition.  In  the  morning,  the  drum  beat  for  volunteers, 
and  two  hundred  hardy  fellows,  capable  of  withstanding  great  fatigue, 
offered  their  services  and  were  accepted.  The  result  is  known." 

As  to  Bancroft's  remarks  as  to  the  suspicion  of  Schuyler's  courage  and 
the  urgency  of  his  friends  to  silence  them,  it  is  sufficient  to  refer  to  the 
letters  themselves  to  see  how  he  has  garbled  them.  While  these  letters 
advert  to  the  detractions  of  which  Schuyler  was  aware,  they  prove  the 
entire  confidence  in  him  of  the  writers  of  them.  Schuyler  alludes  to  the 
topic  as  affecting  the  public  interest.  "  That  torpor,"  he  wrote  officially,  "  that 
torpor,  criminal  indifference,  and  want  of  spirit  which  so  generally  prevails, 
-is  more  dangerous  than  all  the  efforts  of  the  enemy.  Nor  is  that  jealousy 
and  spirit  of  detraction,  which  so  unhappily  prevails,  of  small,  detriment  to 
our  cause.  Every  effort  of  the  enemy  would  be  in  vain,  if  our  exertions 
equalled  our  abilities,  if  our  virtue  was  not  sinking  under  that  infamous 
venality,  which  pervades  throughout,  and  threatens  us  with  ruin." 

Bancroft  dares  to  say,  "the  courage  of  the  commander  being  gone." 
Without  a  fact  to  warrant  this  assertion,  and  resting  solely  upon  his  author- 
ity, its  little  value  is  notorious,  This  groundless  aspersion  is  its  own  con- 
demnation. Of  Schuyler's  manhood  his  life  prior  and  subsequent  to  this 
campaign  is  proof.  His  influence  with  the  "  Six  Nations  "  of  warlike  Indians 
began  when,  at  eighteen  years  of  age,  he  went  forth  in  his  "hunting  and 
trading  excursions,1'  subsequently  of  such  great  public  benefit.  In  the  war 
of  1756  with  the  French,  having  joined  as  a  captain,  [Life  of  Schuyler, 
by  Lossing,  i.  131]  "  he  shared  with  the  common  soldiers  and  the  batteau- 
men  the  perils  and  privations  of  the  campaign,  and  when  on  the  third 
of  July,  as  General  Bradstreet  and  their  party  were  just  commencing 
their  inarch  from  Oswego  to  Albany,  they  were  attacked  by  a  party  of 
French  regulars,  Canadians  and  Indians,  he  displayed  an  intrepidity  and 


590  THE  REPUBLIC.  [1779. 

humanity,  creditable  alike  to  a  soldier  and  true  man."  Soon  after  lie  was 
appointed  a  Major,  and  when  "  Bradstreet,  warmly  supported  by  the  zealous 
Howe,  proposed  an  expedition  against  Frontenac,  Major  Schuyler  entered 
upon  his  duties,  and  from  that  time  till  the  close  of  the  campaign  he  was 
continually  in  the  public  service."  With  Bradstreet  he  maintained  the 
closest  intimacy ;  and  here  he  gained  the  friendship  of  the  hero  Stark,  which 
he  ever  retained. 

The  "  detraction "  of  which  Schuyler  wrote  was  ere  long  shamed. 
Having  repeatedly  urged  that  his  trial  should  take  place,  a  court-martial 
was  held  at  Quaker  Hill,  the  Head-Quarters  of  General  Lincoln,  in  August, 
1778.  Here  his  activity,  his  energy,  his  ready  exposure  of  himself,  were 
fully  proved.  General  St.  Clair  being  examined,  acquitted  him  of  all  cen- 
sure for  his  absence  from  Tyconderoga.  Being  asked  by  Schuyler,  "  Upon 
any  alarm,  did  I  turn  out  myself  and  the  troops  with  any  degree  of  alacrity  ?  " 
St.  Clair  swore,  "  Whenever  there  was  an  alarm  and  I  was  present,  I  have 
always  seen  you  do  it  with  great  alacrity,  and  you  were  always  present 
yourself."  "Did  you  at  that  time  (when  at  Fort  Edward),  or  at  any  time  be- 
fore or  since,  observe  any  negligence  in  my  conduct  with  respect  to  public 
matters?"  "I  did  not,"  answered  St.  Clair,  "but  at  that  time,  and  at  every 
other  time  before  or  since,  I  observed  in  you  the  greatest  attention  to  public 
matters,  as  far  as  came  within  my  observation."  On  the  25th  of  August, 
1778,  the  decision  was  made.  The  court  unanimously  acquitted  him  "  with 
the  highest  honor."  Of  this  important  court  the  members  were  Major- 
General  Lincoln,  President;  Brigadier-Generals  Nixon,  Clinton,  Wayne, 
Muhlenburgh ;  Colonels  Greaton,  Johnson,  Putnam,  Gist,  Russel,  Stewart, 
and  Meigs.  On  the  third  of  December  following,  Congress  "  Resolved,  that 
the  sentence  of  the  court-martial,  acquitting  Major-General  Schuyler,  with 
the  hiyhest  honor,  of  the  charges  exhibited  against  him  be  and  hereby  is 
confirmed."  The  Commander-in-Chief  congratulated  him,  and  such  were 
their  relations  that  Washington  avowed  to  him  his  "most  sincere  regard 
and  affection."  Jay  had  written  to  him,  "  class  yourself  with  those  great 
men  of  antiquity,  who,  unmoved  by  the  ingratitude  of  their  country, 
omitted  no  opportunities  of  promoting  the  public  weal."  He  urged 
him  to  serve  in  a  legislative  capacity.  After  his  acquittal,  Schuyler  again 
took  his  seat  in  Congress. 

In  this  note  no  comments  are  made  upon  Bancroft's  work  at  large. 
That  in  every  extended  narrative  accidental  errors  will  exist  is  to  be  ex- 
pected. Such  is  not  this  case.  A  careful  pervading  criticism  must  pro- 
nounce his  work  a  mockery  of  history.  The  exposition  here  made  is  ex- 
pressly confined  to  a  refutation  by  indisputable  evidence  of  the  calumnies 


x£?.  22.]  HAMILTON.  591 

which  imperatively  demanded  it ;  and  it  is  in  relation  to  these  calumnies 
that  this  statement  is  added.  It  is  seen,  that  the  present  and  the  following 
volume  of  this  work  embrace  the  period  of  the  American  Revolution  in 
which  the  services  of  General  Schuyler  are  minutely  detailed.  Having,  at 
Bancroft's  request,  lent  to  him  these  two  volumes,  he  returned  them  with  n 
note,  of  March  29,  1851 ;  urging  the  completion  of  my  work,  and  using 
these  terms:  "You  are  constructing  a  noble  monument  to  your  father,  and 
adding  to  the  treasures  of  the  literature  and  political  greatness  of  your 
country."  Deservedly  reproved  for  his  untruthfulness,  he  has  sought  and 
found  his  satisfaction  in  maligning  the  illustrious  dead. 

February  9,  1 868. 


592  THE    REPUBLIC.  [1779. 

NOTE   II. 
CHARLES   LEE. 

Colonel  Hamilton,  it  is  seen,  charged  that  Lee  "  meditated  the  disgrace  of 
the  Americans."  As  far  as  any  record  has  been  found,  Hamilton  appears  to 
have  been  the  only  officer  in  the  American  service  who  publicly  imputed 
treachery  to  General  Lee.  Whatever  doubts  may  have  existed  on  this  sub- 
ject, they  are  all  removed  by  a  recent  publication  entitled  "  The  Treason  of 
Major-General  Charles  Lee,"  by  George  H.  Moore,  the  intelligent  and  indefat- 
igable librarian  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society.  In  this  pamphlet,  the 
early  career  of  Lee  is  traced  with  much  ability  and  minuteness  to  the  period 
of  his  capture  at  Baskenridge.  Then  follows  one  of  the  most  important  devoir 
opments  in  the  history  of  the  American  Revolution.  .  It  is  the  publication  of  a 
paper  entitled  "Mr.  Lee's  Plan,  29th  March,  1777,"  being  a  fac  simile  from 
the  autograph  of  Lee  found  among  the  papers  of  Henry  Strachey,  Secretary  to 
the  Royal  Commissioners,  Lord  and  Sir  William  Howe,  which  autograph  is  in 
the  possession  of  Mr.  Moore. 

The  "  Plan '"  of  Lee,  submitted  by  him  to  these  commissioners,  is  a  care- 
fully prepared  scheme  of  military  movements,  which  he  states  he  believed 
would  result  "  in  the  reduction  or  compulsion  to  submission  of  the  whole  prov- 
ince of  Maryland,  for  the  preventing  or  intimidating  Virginia  from  sending 
aids  to  Pennsylvania  .  .  .  and  will  unhinye.  and  dissolve  the  whole  system  of 
defence.  I  am  so  confident  of  the  event,1"  he  adds,  "  that  I  will  venture  to 
assert  with  the  penalty  of  my  life,  if  the  plan  is  fully  adopted,  and  no  accidents 
(such  as  a  rupture  betwixt  the  Powers  of  Europe)  intervene,  that  in  less  than 
two  months  from  the  date  of  the  proclamation  "  (of  pardon)  ''  not  a  spark  of 
this  desolating  war  remains  unextinguisJied  in  any  part  of  the  continent." 

This  treasonable  "Plan"  proposed  the  movement  of  two  thousand  men  to 
take  post  at  Alexandria,  and  of  an  equal  number  to  be  placed  at  Annapolis, 
supporting  each  other  and  ready  for  future  operations.  This  paper  explains 
the  Southern  expedition  of  Howe,  the  policy  of  which  it  was  at  the  time  diffi- 
cult to  fathom. 


END    OF    VOL.    J. 


4  9  0  .  7,4 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  AT  LOS  ANGELES 

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